


Song for Ten

by Shadowhunter_Artemis



Series: Daughter of Time [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 20:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 84,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18835951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowhunter_Artemis/pseuds/Shadowhunter_Artemis





	1. Partners in Crime part 1

**A quick description of what Ali looks like. She’s 5ft 5 with wavy red hair that falls halfway between her shoulder and elbow. She also has green eyes and wears a charm bracelet on her left wrist. I picture her to look similar to Clary Fray from the Mortal Instrument Movie, portrayed by Lily Collins.**

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS with a smile on his face. “You’re in a good mood”, Alyssa commented as he locked up the box.

“Why shouldn’t I be? I’ve got my box”, he said patting the TARDIS “I’ve got my girl” the Doctor reached out, pulled Alyssa to him and gave her a kiss “the most brilliant woman in the universe”.

“You’re biased”, Alyssa said putting her arms around his neck.

“Of course I am”, the Doctor agreed “but it’s still true. You are brilliant”.

“I have to be in order to keep up with the smartest, cleverest and most handsome man in the universe”, Alyssa said.  

The Doctor grinned “Well…” he began.

“Which reminds me I have to catch up with Steve at some point, it’s been a while”, Alyssa said. She laughed when the Doctor pouted “of course I meant you, spaceman!” she pecked his lips “my spaceman”.

“ _My_ Ali”, the Doctor said emphasising the word ‘my’. Alyssa had to admit she did kinda like hearing him say that.

“Absolutely yours”, she agreed “And my mother’s”, Alyssa added.

“But no one else’s”, the Doctor said firmly.  

“Oh I don’t know. If you get another companion, you’ll have to share”, Alyssa told him.

“Why would I want another companion?” the Doctor asked “I have you”. Why would he want someone else traveling with them? He had his box. He had his girl. For once in his long lives he was actually happy. Why would he want things to change?

“You never know Doctor. The future isn’t set in stone. Now don’t we have Adipose Industries to investigate?” Alyssa asked stepping out of his arms.

“Yes we do”, the Doctor replied. He held out his hand and Alyssa took it. They walked hand in hand along the busy street towards the large building that housed Adipose Industries. Instead of going through the front door, the Doctor and Alyssa went around the back. The Time Lord opened the fire exit using his sonic and the pair entered the building.

The Doctor and Alyssa walked down a deserted corridor. “John Smith and Alyssa Palmer, Health and Safety”, he said showing the physic paper to a guard as they passed.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor and Alyssa watched the presentation Miss Foster was giving from the projection room. If aliens were involved in the suspicious activity the TARDIS picked up, they didn’t want them to know that there was another alien present in the building. “Adipose Industries, the twenty first century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain. Just lifelong freedom from fat. The Holy Grail of the modern age. And here it is. You just take one capsule. One capsule, once a day for three weeks, and the fat, as they say….” Miss Foster turned to the large screen.

“The fat just walks away”, a male voice spoke, the words appearing underneath the name Adipose Industries.

“Excuse me, Miss Foster. If I could?” A woman spoke up “I'm Penny Carter, science correspondent for The Observer. There are a thousand diet pills on the market, a thousand con men stealing people's money. How do we know the fat isn't going straight into your bank account?”

“Oh, Penny, if cynicism burnt up calories, we'd all be as thin as rakes. But if you want the science, I can oblige”, Miss Foster replied. She stepped away from the podium to allow the people in the audience to get a clear view of the screen as it began to show how the Adipose Pills worked.

“Adipose Industries. The Adipose capsule is composed of a synthesised mobilising lipase, bound to a large protein molecule”

“Someone’s coming”, Alyssa said quietly to the Doctor when she sensed someone approach the door to the projection room. The Doctor nodded and got out the physic paper which he showed to the man who walked in only a moment after Alyssa had warned him.

“Health and Safety… Film department”, the Doctor informed the man who nodded. He and Alyssa continue to watch the presentation while the man who entered, the projectionist went about his business.

“One hundred percent legal, one hundred percent effective”, Miss Foster said once the presentation had finished.

“But, can I just ask, how many people have taken the pills to date?” Penny asked.

“We've already got one million customers within the Greater London area alone, but from next week, we start rolling out nationwide. The future starts here. And Britain will be _thin_ ”, Miss Foster replied.

In order to find out more information on the Adipose pill, the Doctor and Alyssa decided to talk to the staff. The pair went up to the call centre where numerous workers were busy answering phones. They headed to a booth where a young woman was talking on the phone “We deliver within three working days”

“John Smith and Alyssa Palmer, Health and Safety”, the Doctor whispered showing the physic paper to the woman before he and Alyssa sat down “Don't mind us”.  

“The box comes with 21 days worth of pills, a full information pack, and our special free gift, an Adipose Industries pendant”, the employee, Clare, explained on the phone, whilst giving a pendant over to the Doctor. “It's made of eighteen carat gold, and it's yours for free. No, we don't give away pens, sorry. No, I can't make an exception, no”, the female employee said while she was looking at the Doctor who was inspecting the pendant. Eventually the employee finished with that particular phone call which enabled Alyssa to ask about getting a list of Adipose Industries customers.

“That's the printer there?” the Doctor asked jumping up looking around.

“By the plant, yeah”, Clare confirmed.

“Brilliant”, the Doctor said sitting back down. Much to Alyssa’s amusement he jumped back up again asking “Has it got paper?”

“Yeah, Jimbo keeps it stocked”, Clare replied.  

“What?” the Doctor asked seeing Alyssa shake her head at him.

“Nothing dear”, she said with a smile not even bothering to hide her amusement.

“Excuse me, everyone, if I could have your attention”, Miss Foster said as she walked in with two bodyguards. Everyone with the exception of the Doctor and Alyssa stood up. “On average, you're each selling forty Adipose packs per day. It's not enough. I want one hundred sales per person per day” the Doctor stood up a little to look at Miss Foster over the divider while Alyssa stayed seated “And if not, you'll be replaced. Because if anyone's good in trimming the fat, it's me. Now. Back to it”

The Doctor dropped back down just as Miss Foster left so she didn’t see him. “Anyway, if you could print that off, that would be great”, Alyssa said to Clare. She nodded and did as the red head asked. Alyssa got up and headed to the printer to get the list of customers. Before she got there, she noticed that her shoe had come untied. She knelt down to retie her shoe, completely missing a certain ginger walking away from the printer.

“Oh, what's that?” the Doctor asked looking at a piece of paper the employee had given him.

“My telephone number”, Clare answered.  

“What for?” the Doctor questioned a little confused.

“Health and Safety”, Clare replied “You be health, I'll be safety”.

“Actually I’m taken. Sorry”, the Doctor said not sounding sorry at all. Although the brunette was fairly pretty, he wasn’t interested. He already had someone, a beautiful red head whom loved with everything in his hearts. He walked away from the booth and met up with Alyssa as she was coming back from the printer. “Where’s the customer list?” the Doctor asked seeing that she wasn’t holding any paper.

“It wasn’t in the printer”, she replied “what’s that?” Alyssa asked noticing the paper in his hand.

“It’s the phone number of that employee”, the Doctor replied.

“She asked you out?” Alyssa questioned.

“Yes”, the Doctor replied “but I told her that I was taken”, he quickly added.

“Good. Well we’re going to need that list reprinted” Alyssa said taking the paper from him “So I’ll ask her to do that for us and at the same time I can give this back”. She walked back to Clare’s booth. “Hi. Me again. Would you mind reprinting that list for me?” Alyssa asked.

“Of course”, Clare said.

“Thanks”, Alyssa said “oh and you can have this back” she added dropping the paper with the phone number onto her desk.


	2. Partners in Crime part 2

The Doctor knocked on the door of Roger Davey, an Adipose customer. “Good evening Mr Davey”, Alyssa greeted when the man opened the door “We’re calling on behalf of Adipose Industries. Just need to ask you a few questions”. The Doctor showed Roger the psychic paper, who took one look at it and allowed them into his home.

“How long have you been on the Adipose pills?” the Doctor asked as Rodger led them to the living room where he sat down on the sofa. The Time Lord and Alyssa opted to stay standing up.

“I've been on the pills for two weeks now. I've lost fourteen kilos”, Rodger replied proudly.

“That's the same amount every day?” Alyssa asked.

“One kilo exactly. You wake up, and it's disappeared overnight. Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning”, Rodger explained.

“What makes you say that?” the Doctor asked.

“That's when I get woken up. Might as well weigh myself at the same time”, Rodger replied 

“What wakes you up?” Alyssa questioned. In answer to her question Rodger takes the pair outside to show them the burglar alarm above the front door.

“It is driving me mad. Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot without fail, the burglar alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes”, Rodger explained.

“And every time it happens, there weren’t any burglars?” Alyssa asked.

“Exactly. I've given up looking”, Rodger said.

“Tell me, Roger. Have you got a cat flap?” the Doctor asked. Alyssa looked at him wondering why on earth he wanted to know that.

“It was here when I bought the house. I've never bothered with it, really. I'm not a cat person”, Rodger said as he took them to the kitchen where there was a cat flap in the door. He and the Doctor knelt down by it while Alyssa stood behind them.

“No, I've met cat people” the Doctor said distractedly as he examined the cat flap “You're nothing like them”. 

“It's that what it is, though? Cats getting inside the house?” Rodger questioned.

“Well, thing about cat flaps is, they don't just let things in, they let things out as well”, the Doctor told him.

“Like what?” Rodger asked.

“The fat just walks away”, the Doctor muttered dropping the flap shut.

“Well, thanks for your help Mr Davey”, Alyssa said shaking the man’s hand after he led them back to the front door “It would be best if you stayed off the pills for a week or so”, she suggested. The man was about to say something in reply when the Doctor’s pocket beeped. He pulled out a device he’d constructed earlier and saw that it was flashing red.

“Oh. Got to go. Sorry”, the Doctor said to the man. He pulled the door open with his free hand and ran out.

“Have a pleasant evening”, Alyssa added before rushing out after the Doctor. The Time Lord grabs her hand when she catches up with him and together they run, following the signal on the device. They follow the signal along several streets, having to stop at one point when the beeps slowed. The Doctor just banged on the device, the beeps picking up again and the pair were continuing with their chase.

At one point, the Doctor ran into the middle of the road almost getting hit by a van if Alyssa hadn’t pulled him out of the way. The device in the Time Lord’s hand dinged as the van passed. He and Alyssa exchanged a glance before running after the vehicle. They darted down an alley when the van turned the corner, hoping that they could catch up to it. Unfortunately the Doctor and Alyssa never made it to the end of the alley way as the device stopped beeping, the red lights ceasing to flash as well. Both the Doctor and Alyssa stared at the device in disappointment. 

“Damn it”, Alyssa grumbled voicing hers and the Doctor’s disappointment.

“You said it”, the Doctor agreed. He her hand and they walked back up the alleyway completely unaware that Donna Noble was only a street away from them.

\-------------------------

Alyssa smiled when she stepped inside the TARDIS hearing the familiar hum of the ship “we’re back Sexy”, she called shrugging off her jacket.

**_Welcome back sweetie_ **

That made Alyssa smile even more. She loved hearing the TARDIS talking to her, even if she still didn’t understand the reason why she was able to. Alyssa had asked the box but she had been pretty vague in her answers. The woman hoped that one day she would actually get proper answers as to why she could hear the TARDIS for the moment she just had to settle with the fact that she could.

“Where are you going?” the Doctor asked as Alyssa headed towards the door that led to the rest of the ship.

“To finish the painting so I can get it back to the museum”, Alyssa replied. As she had worked hard getting her degree so she could get a job as conservationist, mainly in paintings, she didn’t really want to give up her job at the British Museum. Alyssa didn’t want to give up on travelling with the Doctor either so she came up with a compromise. She would take the paintings that her partner, Jenna Mackenzie, had allocated to her for restoration with her on her travels through time and space. Whenever she got some down time between adventures, she would work on the paintings.

In Alyssa’s opinion the compromise worked pretty well. She could travel with the Doctor and maintain her job at the museum. It also gave her an excuse to visit her mother which she would do every time she had to drop a restored painting off. On occasion she also took the opportunity to drop in at the Coffee House so she could catch up with her former work colleagues. Steve loved her visits and was always eager to hear about her latest adventures. He didn’t have to do much persuading as Alyssa was all too happy to share her adventures with him.

Her mother was a different story. While Sarah was aware that about her travels in the TARDIS, Alyssa felt that she couldn’t tell her absolutely everything. If her mother knew how many times she’d come face to face with deadly aliens, she would probably have a heart attack. Either that or insist that she stopped travelling with the Doctor all together, something Alyssa was not prepared to do. As the saying goes ‘ignorance is bliss’ so Alyssa just tells her mother edited versions of her adventures.

“Couldn’t you do that later?” the Doctor asked walking towards her.

“Maybe”, Alyssa replied with a smile “if only there was someone to convince me”.

“Is that a challenge Ali?” the Doctor asked with a smirk.

“It might be”, Alyssa answered “Think you’re up for it?” she asked teasingly.

The Doctor smiled already thinking of ways to convince her “absolutely”, he replied. Alyssa stepped up to him so that they were merely inches apart.

“Prove it”, she challenged before running off into the depths of the TARDIS. The Doctor chased after her looking forward to the moment when he catches her.

\-------------------------------------------

Alyssa ran along the corridors trying to keep herself from laughing as the Doctor chased after her. It was rather childish the way she was acting but she couldn’t help it. The Time Lord had this way of bringing out her inner child sometimes. She turned this way and that through the maze of corridors that went throughout the ship. Alyssa pulled open the door to the library hoping that she could hide herself in the vast room. The woman sprinted along isles of books to try and lose the Doctor. She paused to catch her breath and yelped when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind.

“Gotcha!” the Doctor said.

“Yes you have”, Alyssa said turning around in his arm “so Spaceman, how are you going are you going to convince me?”  

“Like this”, the Doctor said and kissed her deeply, pouring all his love into it. Alyssa put her arms around his neck, closing her eyes, thoroughly enjoying the wave of emotions that washed over her. When they eventually parted, both breathing heavily. The Doctor was pleased to see that his girlfriend’s face was slightly flushed in a shade almost as red as her hair. “You convinced?” he asked.

“Yeah”, Alyssa breathed “I’m convinced”.

\--------------------------------------

Sometime later the Doctor was in the console room examining the pendant he’d gotten at Adipose Industries through a magnifying glass. “Oh, fascinating. Seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch, specifically for…” The Doctor trailed off when he noticed that Alyssa had fallen asleep on the captain’s chair. A soft smile appeared on his face as he regarded the sleeping woman. The Doctor set down the magnifying glass and pedant down on the console before going over to her. He picked her up and carried her to their room.


	3. Partners in Crime part 3

The next day the Doctor and Alyssa headed back to Adipose Industries entering the building the same way they did the day before. Something was definitely going on so they’d decided to have a little look around the building. Once everyone had gone home of course. “Any one coming?” the Doctor asked Alyssa as they stopped outside a cupboard door. The woman reached out with her abilities and didn’t sense anyone else nearby.

“No”, she replied. The Doctor nodded and opened the cupboard door. The pair entered the cupboard and the Doctor used his sonic to close it.

“What time do the staff leave?” he asked.

“Ten past 6 I believe”, Alyssa replied.

“It seems we have some time to spare”, the Doctor said. Alyssa smiled, clearly picking up on his emotions with little effort. She knew what he was implying by those words.

\----------------------

Around 6.10 the cupboard door opens and Alyssa stepped out with messy clothes and tousled hair. Despite her appearance she was smiling. The Doctor also left the cupboard hair sticking up all over the place and his tie askew. “Well that was something”, Alyssa said breathlessly running her hands through her hair to get rid of any tangles.

“Yep”, the Doctor agreed as he straightened his tie. The pair then made their way to the roof, still with smiles on their faces.

“Are you sure this is the best way to find out what’s going on?” Alyssa asked as the Doctor climbed into the widow cleaner’s cradle.

“Definitely”, the Doctor replied.

“I don’t know”, Alyssa said hesitant about getting into the cradle. She’d gone along with some of his crazy ideas, not always willingly, but this didn’t feel very safe.

“It’ll be fine Ali”, the Doctor assured her “I promise”.

Alyssa sighed and got into the cradle “if the cables break, I’m not going to kiss you for a week”, she threatened as the Doctor lowered it down the outside of the building.

“Those cables won’t break. Trust me Ali”, the Doctor said not really wanting his girlfriend to carry out on her threat. Alyssa opened her mouth to say something when Miss Foster entered, she and the Doctor quickly ducked down so they wouldn’t be spotted.

Alyssa raised a brow when the Time Lord pulled out a stethoscope in order to hear the conversation going on inside the room. The Doctor put one end in his ear and held out the other for Alyssa. She stuck it in her ear and together they listened in on the conversation.

“This is ridiculous”, a woman said. It sounded like the reporter Penny who’d been asking questions at the presentation the day before.

“Sit there”, Miss Foster commanded.

“I'm phoning my editor”, Penny said.

“I said _sit_ ”, Miss Foster repeated.

“You can't tie me up!” Penny exclaimed as the bodyguard pushed her down onto a chair and did just that “What sort of a country do you think this is?”

“Oh, it's a beautifully fat country. And believe me, I've travelled a long way to find obesity on this scale”, Miss Foster replied. Alyssa frowned at that. It sounded like this Miss Foster wasn’t human. She hadn’t picked up anything different from the woman the day before. Then again she didn’t know that Tanya was an alien until she’d seen her face change in the police station bathroom.

“So, come on then, Miss Foster, those pills. What are they?”

“Well, you might just as well have a scoop, since you'll never see it printed”, Miss Foster smirked holding up a pill “this is the spark of life”.

“And what's that supposed to mean?” Penny asked.

“Officially, the capsule attracts all the fat cells and flushes them away. Well, it certainly attracts them. That part's true. But it binds the fat together and galvanises it to form a body”, Miss Foster explained. 

“Well, what do you mean ‘a body’?” Penny demanded.

“I am surprised you never asked about my name. I chose it well. Foster. As in foster mother. And these…” Miss Foster took out a small white creature from her drawer and placed it on the desk “are my children”.

“You're kidding me. What the hell is that?” Penny asked gaping at the creature.

The Doctor and Alyssa stand up to look through the window. The red head was taken aback when she noticed Donna peering through the circular window of the door across the room. She tapped the Doctor on his shoulder. When he looked at her, she pointed at Donna. The Time Lord was equally surprised to see her there.

 _“Doctor! Ali!”_ Donna mouthed. 

 _“But…what? Wha… What?”_ the Doctor mouthed gaping at the ginger.

_“Oh my god!”_

_“But… how?”_ Alyssa mouthed.

 _“It's me!”_ Donna mouthed pointing at herself.

 _“Yes, I can see that”_ the Doctor mouthed gesturing to his eyes. Alyssa had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing from the rather amusing silent conversation going on.

 _“Oh, this is brilliant!”_ Donna cheered.

 _“What the hell are you doing there?”_ the Doctor asked.

_“I was looking for you”_

_“What for?”_ Alyssa asked. 

 _“I came here”_ Donna started to mime her answer _“trouble, read about it, internet, I thought trouble = you! And this place is weird! Pills! So I hid. Back there. Crept along. Heard this lot. Looked. You! Cos they…”_ Donna gestured to the side and looked at Miss Foster only to see she was staring back.

“Are we interrupting you?” the woman asked.

 _“Run!”_ the Doctor mouthed at the ginger.

“Get her”, Miss Foster ordered. The Doctor quickly locked the office door with his sonic before using it to raise the cradle back up to the roof.

“And them!” Miss Foster shouted. The Doctor and Alyssa scrambled out of the window cleaner’s cradle when it reached the roof. They entered the building as Miss Foster’s guards shot the office door to get out.

“Oh, my God. I don't believe it!” Donna exclaimed when she met up with Alyssa and the Doctor on the stairs. She pulled Alyssa into a hug, the red head not minding one bit as she hadn’t seen Donna since that day in the Coffee House. Which felt like a lifetime ago. “You've even got the same suit! Don't you ever change?” Donna asked the Doctor stepping back after hugging him.

“Yeah, thanks, Donna. Not right now”, the Doctor said looking down seeing guards coming up the stairs a few floors below them “Just like old times!” he said happily grabbing Alyssa’s hand and dashing back up the stairs, Donna running after them. She was buzzing from excitement in seeing the pair again. The trio ran out on to the roof where the Doctor led them to the window cleaner’s cradle.

“Cause I thought, how do you find the Doctor and Ali?” Donna babbled as the Doctor Soniced the cradle controls “well I thought at first I’d ring up because I had Ali’s number but I didn’t get any answer…”

“I’ve got a new phone because _someone_ destroyed my old one!” the Doctor winced at that. Alyssa barely spoke to him for a week after he’d used parts of her phone for a device he was building. Even the TARDIS was in a mood with him for that, he got shocked every time he tried to operate the console. It took him getting Alyssa a new phone and apologising to both her and the TARDIS before the box decided to let him pilot her.

 “I thought you’d forgiven me for that?” the Doctor asked.

“I have. That doesn’t stop me bringing it up from time to time”, Alyssa replied. She turned back to Donna “so how did you find out about Adipose Industries?”

“It was on this site on the internet”, Donna replied.

“And you’d thought to take a look?” Alyssa asked.

“Yeah. When I couldn’t get hold of you I decided to look for anything weird. UFO sightings, crop circles, sea monsters”, Donna explained “The two of you opened my eyes. All those amazing things out there, I believe them all. Well, apart from that replica of the Titanic flying over Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day. I mean, that's got to be a hoax”.

“It wasn’t a hoax”, the Doctor informed her.

“Seriously? That was real?” Donna asked.

“Yep. Now in you get”, the Doctor said hopping in the cradle. He held out a hand to Alyssa, helping her in.

“What, in that thing?” Donna asked.

“Yes, in that thing”, the Doctor repeated.

“But if we go down in that, they'll just call us back up again”, Donna pointed out.

“No, no, no, because I've locked the controls with a sonic cage”, the Doctor informed her “I'm the only one that can control it. Not unless she's got a sonic device of her own, which is very unlikely”.

“I really hope you haven’t just jinxed us”, Alyssa remarked as the Doctor lowered the window cleaner’s cradle after Donna had got in.  Sure enough the window cleaner’s cradle started to plummet towards the ground. The Doctor pointed his sonic up at the pulley and the cradle jerked to a stop. “You just had to say something didn’t you?” Alyssa grumbled getting to her feet as the sudden stop knocked them all to floor.

“Hold on, we can get in through the window”, the Doctor said ignoring Alyssa’s grumble about him jinxing it. His tried to use his sonic to cut through the glass but it didn’t work “she’s deadlocked it. I can’t get it open”, the Doctor told the woman.

“Well, smash it then!” Donna said picking up a spanner and smacking the glass with it. That didn’t seem to work either.

“Ali can you…?” the Doctor asked.

“I can try”, she replied placing her hand on the glass. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

“What is she doing?” Donna asked. The Doctor didn’t answer her, just watched his girlfriend concentrate on breaking the glass. “Doc-“

“Donna quiet”, he said rather rudely. Donna huffed in annoyance at his rudeness. She happened to glance up and gasped. Miss Foster was using her sonic to cut the cable! 

“She’s cutting the cable!” Donna exclaimed. The Doctor and Alyssa, whose concentration was broken by Donna’s shout, looked up as the cable snapped. The cradle tipped dramatically, the Doctor and Donna just about managed to hold on. Unfortunately Alyssa wasn’t so lucky. “Ali!” the Doctor and Donna shouted as the other red head tumbled out with a scream.

“Doctor!” Alyssa yelled as she clung tightly onto the broken cable “help!”

“Hold on!” the Doctor reached down and grasped the cable. Donna grabbed it too and together they tried to pull Alyssa up but they couldn’t.

“Doctor!” Donna shouted.

On the rooftop, Miss Foster smirked “And now, for the other one”, she said lifting her sonic pen pointing it at the second cable. The Doctor looked up and his face hardened seeing that Miss Foster was trying to cut the second cable. He raised his sonic at her own device and pressed the button. The woman’s sonic pen sparked forcing her to drop it as it burned her hand. The Doctor caught it with his free hand and handed it to Donna as he climbed up the cable to the window they’d all tried to get into.

“Doctor hurry!” Alyssa shouted up to him not knowing how much longer she could hold on for.

“Work faster Doctor”, Donna urged glancing down at the red haired woman who was clinging onto the cable for dear life absolutely terrified. The Doctor tried to stay calm as he worked on getting the window open. It wasn’t easy as his hands were shaking, his hearts hammering in his chest.

“We won't be a minute!” the Doctor shouted to Alyssa as he finally managed to get the window open. He climbed in through the window not even bothering to help Donna up as he was more concerned with getting Alyssa inside.

When he reached the office, he rushed over to the window where Alyssa’s jean clad legs were dangling. “Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?” Penny asked. The Doctor just ignored her and opened up the window.

 “Ali you can let go now”, he told Alyssa as he grabbed hold of her legs.

“Are you crazy? I’m not letting go!” she yelled at him unwilling to relinquish her hold on the cable even though she could feel the Doctor holding onto her legs.

“Ali, you know I’m crazy. I’m a mad man with a box”, the Doctor reminded her “But you _can_ let go now. I’ve got you”.

Alyssa took a breath before letting go of the cable. The Doctor pulled her through the window into a tight embrace. Relief flooded through him as he held her trembling form. Seeing her fall like that had scared the living daylights out of him. He was pretty sure that he’d lost a few decades in the moment too.

“Let’s never do that again”, Alyssa mumbled when she’d calmed down enough from her ordeal.

“Never ever”, the Doctor promised.


	4. Partners in Crime part 4

After freeing Penny, the trio ran through the call centre stopping short when Miss Foster appeared with her guards. “Well then” the blonde haired woman took off her glasses “at last”.

“Hello”, Donna said politely.

“Doctor!” Donna shouted.

“Nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor and this is Ali”, the Doctor said introducing himself and Alyssa. 

“Hi”, Alyssa said.

“And I'm Donna”, Donna said introducing herself.

“Partners in crime. And evidently off-worlders, judging by your sonic technology”, Miss Foster remarked.

“Oh, yes, I've still got your sonic pen. It's kind of sleek” the Doctor showed it to Donna and Alyssa.

“Oh, it's definitely sleek”, Donna agreed.

“Despite it being sleek, I don’t like it at all”, the Doctor said glaring at Miss Foster. She tried to kill his girl which of course made him not very happy with the woman at all.

“Considering it nearly sent me falling to my death”, Alyssa put in.

“And I don’t like it when people try to kill my girl”, the Doctor added still glaring at Miss Foster. Donna was a little confused by the Doctor calling Alyssa his girl. The first time she met them they were only friends. And when she crossed paths with Alyssa again at the Coffee House, the woman was still with her boyfriend Ben. She’d been pretty excited about an upcoming trip across Europe. Donna wondered what had happened between then and now for this apparent change in the Doctor’s and Alyssa’s relationship. “If you were to sign your real name that would be?”

“Matron Cofelia of the Five Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet. Intergalactic Class”, Miss Foster said proudly.

“A wet nurse, using humans as surrogates”, the Doctor said sounding rather disgusted by that.

“I've been employed by the Adiposian First Family to foster a new generation after their breeding planet was lost”, Miss Foster explained.

Alyssa frowned at that “How do you lose a planet?” she asked.

“Oh, politics are none of my concern” Miss Foster waved them off “I'm just here to take care of the children on behalf of the parents”.

“What, like an outer space super nanny?” Donna asked trying to understand what Miss Foster aka Matron Cofelia was.

“Yes, if you like”, Miss Foster said ok with her analogy.

“So…so those little things, they're, they're made out of fat, yeah, but that woman, Stacy Campbell, there was nothing left of her” Donna said.

“Oh, in a crisis the Adipose can convert bone and hair and internal organs. Makes them a little bit sick, poor things”, Miss Foster told her.

Alyssa felt rather ill at the thought of people turning into the numerous white alien blobs like the one she’d seen in Miss Foster’s office. “What about poor Stacy?” Donna asked.

“Seeding a level five planet is against galactic law”, the Doctor said seriously, his thoughts going to the many innocent people who’d taken the pills completely unaware that they were dangerous.

“Are you threatening me?” Miss Foster asked.

“I'm trying to help you, Matron. This is your one chance, because if you don't call this off, then I'll have to stop you”, the Doctor said, still serious.

“I hardly think you can stop bullets”, Miss Foster said and the guards took aim. Immediately the Doctor stood proactively in front of Alyssa and Donna.

“He might not be able to. But I can”, Alyssa said stepping up next to him. The Doctor tried to pull her back behind him but she just gave him a look which said ‘trust me’.

“You?” Miss Foster scoffed looking her up and down “I highly doubt it”.

“Why don’t you have your men pull the trigger and find out”, Alyssa challenged. She managed to stop herself from flinching when the guards took the safety off their weapons. “Go on Matron. Or are you too scared?” she taunted.

“Shoot them”, Miss Foster ordered and the guards fired on the trio. Her eyes widened when she saw that the bullets seem to hit an invisible wall. Alyssa gave the woman an ‘I told you so’ look before flinging the psychic energy she’d used to create a wall at Miss Foster and her two guards. The force knocked the trio backwards.

Taking advantage of what Alyssa had just did, the Doctor grabbed her hand and ran out of the call centre. Donna ran after them rather surprised at what Alyssa had just done. She’d never seen her do anything like that before.

\----------------------------------

“What was that Ali?” Donna asked as they stopped by the cupboard that the Doctor and Alyssa had spent most of the day in.

“A long story”, Alyssa replied rubbing her head “one I am happy to tell you once we stop Miss Foster”.

“I’m holding you to that”, Donna said as the Doctor was pulling out a ladder from the cupboard. “Well that’s one solution. Hide in a cupboard. I like it”, she commented as the Doctor threw out more supplies. He pressed the back wall of the cupboard to reveal a machine. During part of the time he and Alyssa were in the cupboard, he’d tried to hack into the machine. When they’d discovered it was triple deadlocked, they had decided to move onto something else to pass the time.

“I’ve been hacking into this thing all day because the matron's got a computer core running through the centre of the building. Triple deadlocked. But now I've got this” he held up the sonic pen “I can get into it”, the Doctor explained. Alyssa didn’t bother to correct him about the hacking in all day part because Donna didn’t need to know what they’d been up to.

“She's wired up the whole building” the Doctor said after quickly flashing the sonic pen over the machine. Alyssa stepped out of the cupboard and glanced down the corridor when she sensed two people approaching. Sure enough the two guards that had been with Miss Foster came around the corner.

“We’ve got guards coming this way”, she warned. The Doctor nodded and held two wires together causing them to spark. Donna and Alyssa watched the two men get shocked and collapse on the floor. “They’re not dead Donna, just knocked out”, Alyssa assured her.

“How do you know?” Donna asked looking at her.

“I can sense it”, she replied “So why has she wired up the tower block Doctor?”

“That’s a very good question Ali”, the Doctor said picking up seemingly random wires and sonicing them with the pen.

“You look older”, Donna commented looking at the Doctor while he worked on the machine. Alyssa helped him out by holding wires that he needed to sonic.

“Thanks”, the Doctor said not looking away from his work.

“Is it still just the two of you?” Donna asked.

“No. We had this friend Martha, who we met not long after the Racnoss incident”, Alyssa replied “she was great to have around, I could really open up to her. She was one who made me realise something really important” she looked at the Doctor who looked back at her, pausing in his work.

“Me too”, the Doctor agreed with a smile. If it hadn’t been for Martha Jones they would never have known that they loved each other. Well they might’ve done but it probably would’ve taken a lot longer than it did with the trainee doctor travelling with them. Donna looked at the two of them, the way they were looking at each other was more confirmation that they were more than just friends. “She was brilliant and I destroyed half her life”

“No you didn’t. What happened wasn’t your fault, it was the Master’s”, Alyssa told him. Although they were in a good place in their relationship, she was aware that he still blamed himself for the year that never was. She could assure him that it wasn’t his fault a thousand times but it wouldn’t make a difference. Alyssa hoped that one day he would be able to forgive himself for it, she already had.

“What about Rose?” Donna asked.

“Still lost”, the Doctor replied. 

“I thought you were going to travel the world Donna?” Alyssa asked wanting to change the subject. She knew that Rose was still a fairly sensitive subject for the Doctor.

“Easier said than done. It's like I had that one day with the two of you and I was going to change. I was going to do so much. Then I woke up the next morning, same old life. It's like you were never there”, Donna said “And I tried. I did try, I went to Egypt. I was going to go barefoot and everything. And then it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water, and two weeks later you're back home. It's nothing like being with you. I must have been mad turning down that offer”.

“What offer?” the Doctor asked.

“To come with you”, Donna answered.

“You’d come with us?”

“Oh yes, please!” Donna said glad that he’d asked her again. Alyssa wondered if she’d intentionally mentioned the offer or if it was accidental. If it was intentional it was a pretty sneaky way to get the Doctor to ask her to travel with them.

“Right”, the Doctor said a little uncertain. He’d enjoyed having Martha Jones travelling with himself and Alyssa. It had been fun, having another person to show the wonders of the universe to. Then the incident with the Master happened. The year-that-never-was had affected him pretty badly, still did as a matter of fact. That year had ruined not only Martha’s life but her families’ as well. Out of everything that had occurred, that wasn’t even the worst thing to have happened. Alyssa being tortured, nearly dying because of it, surpassed that. The Doctor still had nightmares about it, all of them ending with Alyssa dead. When he woke up from having such a nightmare, he would hold Alyssa in his arms assuring himself that she was alive, that the TARDIS had saved her. He was never going to let anything like that happen to her ever again.

Although Donna seemed excited at the possibility of travelling with them, the Doctor was a little unsure. He was brought out of his thoughts by the computer declaring that the inducer was activated.

“What’s happening Doctor?” Alyssa asked as the machine lit up.

“She's started the programme”, he replied “So far they're just losing weight, but the Matron's gone up to emergency pathogenesis”, he added.

“And that's when they convert…” Donna began

“Skeletons, organs, everything”, the Doctor finished.

“Oh god”, Alyssa breathed paling at the thought of hundreds, no thousands of people were going to be turned into Adipose.

“I’ve got to cancel the signal”, the Doctor said pulling out the gold capsule from his pocket “This contains a primary signal” he explained pulling the top off to show the women the chip inside “if I can switch it off, the fat goes back to being just fat”. Alyssa and Donna watched as he attached it to some wires hanging from the machine.

His hearts dropped when the computer announced that the inducer was increasing “No, no, no, no, no. She's doubled it. I need….haven't got time. It's too far. I can't override it. They're all gonna die!” the Doctor said panicking.

“Is there anything either of us can do?” Donna asked.

“Sorry, Donna, this is way beyond either of you. Gotta to double the base pulse, I can't…”

“Doctor calm down”, Alyssa said placing a hand on his arm, sensing the sheer panic coming off him “what do you need?”

“I need a second capsule to boost the override, but I've only got the one. I can't save them!” the Doctor exclaimed.

Without saying a word, Donna reached into the pocket and pulled out her own pendant. The Doctor looked at her in shock before all three of them burst out laughing. The Time Lord took the pendant from her, hooked it up to the machine and the trio watched as it powered down. “You are brilliant super temp”, Alyssa said hugging her happily.

Then a horn blared “What the hell was that?” Donna asked.

“That would be the nursery”, the Doctor replied.

“When you say nursery you don't mean a crèche in Notting Hill”, Donna said.

“Nursery ship”, the Doctor corrected.

 _Incoming signal_ the computer announced, the machine turning back on.

“Hadn't we better go and stop them?” Donna asked as the Doctor tried to listen to the alien language that was speaking.

“what is that?” Alyssa asked.

“Instructions from the Adiposian First Family”, the Doctor replied “She's wired up the tower block to convert it into a levitation post” his eyes widened as he listened to the computer “Oh. Ooh. We're not the ones in trouble now. She is!”

The Doctor took Alyssa’s hand and the three of them hurry up to the rooftop. There they see hundreds of Adipose floating up towards the large ship in the sky. “What you going to do then? Blow them up?”

“They're just children. They can't help where they come from”, the Doctor said watching the Adipose.

“Oh, that makes a change from last time. That Martha must've done you good”, Donna remarked.

“Not just Martha”, the Doctor winding his arm around Alyssa’s waist. The woman leaned against him and waved at the Adipose, laughing when one waved back.

 “I’m waving at fat”, she said smiling. Despite the fact that they’d been created out of humans, they were rather cute.

“Actually, as a diet plan, it sort of works” the Doctor admitted. Then he noticed Miss Foster floating upwards in a beam of blue light “There she is!”

They ran over to the edge where the woman stopped floating “Matron Cofelia, listen to me”, the Doctor said.

“Oh, I don't think so, Doctor. And if I never see you again, it'll be too soon”, Miss Foster said not interested in anything he had to say.

“Oh, why does no one ever listen? I'm trying to help. Just get across to the roof. Can you shift the levitation beam?” the Doctor asked. He knew that the Adiposian First Family wasn’t going to take Miss Foster with them as they were aware that it was a crime to breed on Earth.

“What, so that you can arrest me?” Miss Foster asked.

“Just listen. I saw the Adiposian instructions. They know it's a crime, breeding on Earth. So what's the one thing they want to get rid of? Their accomplice”, the Doctor told her.

“I'm far more than that. I'm nanny to all these children”

“The parents have the kids now. They don’t need you anymore”, Alyssa put in trying to help the Doctor reason with the woman. Suddenly the blue light cuts off. Miss Foster look down bewildered before she falls with a scream. Alyssa tried to use her powers to save her like she did with Morvin but she was too late. She stepped away from the edge, hating that fact that she couldn’t save her. It didn’t matter what Miss Foster had done, she didn’t deserve dying like that.  The Doctor took her hand and led her away.

\--------------------

When they reached street level, the street was busy with ambulances and police cars. The Doctor took Miss Foster’s sonic pen out of his pocket and threw it in a bin. He wasn’t going to keep something that had nearly gotten Alyssa killed. “Oi you three!” a voice called. The trio turned to see Penny coming towards them, still tied to the chair. “You're just mad. Do you hear me? Mad! And I'm going to report you for madness”

“You see, some people just can't take it”, Donna said as they watched her go.

“And some people can”, Alyssa pointed out looking at Donna, who smiled knowing she meant _her_.

“So, then. TARDIS! Come on!” the ginger grabbed the Doctor’s arm and pulled him away. Alyssa followed them to where the TARDIS was parked in the alley, just behind a blue car. “That's my car!” Donna said seeing that she’d parked her car that close to the box. When she parked it that morning, she had no idea the blue box would appear behind it.

“Blimey that’s a coincidence”, Alyssa commented.

“Or destiny”, Donna said going over to the boot of her car “and I've been ready for this”. Both the Doctor and Alyssa were surprised that the boot was full of suitcases. “I packed ages ago, just in case. Because I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather…” Donna loaded the Doctor up with her luggage while Alyssa looked on rather amused by the look on her boyfriend’s face “he and Ali goes anywhere. I’ve gotta be prepared” Donna tosses a hat box to Alyssa who just about catches it.

“You've got a…a… hatbox?!” the Doctor stuttered staring at the box in Alyssa’s arms.

“Planet of the Hats, I'm ready!” Donna grinned continuing to unload her cases.

“You wouldn’t happen to have packed a fez by any chance?” Alyssa asked setting the box down and going over to help her while the Doctor just stood there.

“As a matter of fact I have”, Donna replied. She selected another hat box that was still in the boot and opened it up. “There you go”, she said giving the red fez over to Alyssa. Donna laughed at how happy Alyssa looked holding a fez. “I take it you love fezzes then?” she asked recalling the first time she met them both. Alyssa had mentioned a fez then too.

“Of course I do! Fezzes are cool!” Alyssa said sticking it on her head. She spun around, half expecting the Doctor to say something about the fez like he usually did but he just stood there with Donna’s luggage around him “Doctor are you ok?”

“I don’t know”, he said honestly causing Donna to turn around.

“You don't want me to come do you?” Donna asked sounding sad. She really thought he wanted her to join them on their travels through time and space.

“I'm not saying that”, the Doctor said.

“But you asked me. Would you rather it just be the two of you?” Donna asked.

“I want you to come Donna”, Alyssa said.

“Doctor?”

“I want you to come too” he agreed “it’s just…the last time with Martha, something happened and it ruined her life. And that was all my fault”.

“Again I say it wasn’t your fault. When are you going to believe me?” Alyssa asked interrupting him.

 “Maybe in the next life”

“I’m going to make sure you forgive yourself before that happens”, the red head said firmly.

“And then Martha left”, the Doctor told Donna picking up where Alyssa had interrupted him “it was her choice to go but it’s still hard when your mate leaves”.

“You just want to mate?” Donna asked looking horrified at the thought.

“I just want a mate!” the Doctor tried again, knowing that Donna had misunderstood his words.

“You're not mating with me, sunshine!”

Alyssa had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. _Man it’s going to be fun having Donna around_ she thought. “A mate. I want _a_ mate”

“Well, just as well because I'm not having any of that nonsense” Donna said finally understanding his words “I mean, you're just a long streak of nothing. You know, alien nothing”.

“Which I happen to love”, Alyssa said moving to stand next to the Doctor who put his arm around her waist.

“So I can come?” Donna asked hoping that she still could.

“Course you can”, the Doctor replied. 

“Great!” Donna said. Then she suddenly remembered her mother’s car keys “I won't be a minute”, she said before running off.

“Where are you going?” Alyssa called after her.

“Just dropping off my mum’s car keys!” Donna called back. When she’d disappeared around the corner, the Doctor removed his arm from around Alyssa’s waist so that he could open the TARDIS.

“You know you could’ve stepped in earlier”, the Doctor said as they carried Donna’s bags inside.

“I could’ve but it was too funny”, Alyssa said setting down a case “oh and by the way” she wacked him upside the head.

“Ow! What was that for?” the Doctor asked rubbing his head.

“That was for jinxing it. You should’ve known better than to do that. And I’m carrying out my threat. No kisses for a week”

“Why?”

“You know why. I told you I wouldn’t kiss you for a week if the cradle cables snapped. They did”, Alyssa said.

“Oh come on Ali that wasn’t my fault!” the Doctor whined.

“Doesn’t matter. I warned you”, Alyssa said pointing a finger at him.

“Off we go, then”, Donna said running into the TARDIS not long after Alyssa and the Doctor had gotten all her bags in “what’s up with him?” she asked seeing the Doctor sitting on the captain’s chair looking like he was sulking.

“I told him that I wasn’t going to kiss him for a week”

“You two are together then?” Donna asked.

“Yep”, Alyssa replied “I’ll be happy to explain to you how we ended up together once we get you settled in”, she added knowing Donna was going to have a lot of questions about that.

“So how come you’re not kissing him for a week?”

“The cable to the window cleaner’s cradle snapped”, Alyssa replied.

“That wasn’t the Doctor’s fault, Miss Foster did that”, Donna reminded her.

“Thank you!” the Doctor said happy that Donna was defending him in some way.

“Oh, I know that it wasn’t his fault. But I did warn him, that’s why he’s sulking”, Alyssa said.

“No I’m not”, the Time Lord muttered although he was.

“Yes you are dear”

**_That is definitely sulking_ **

“Even the TARDIS agrees with me”, Alyssa said rather smugly.

“She would do. You’re her favourite”, the Doctor said standing up “so Donna. The whole wide universe, where do you want to go?”

“Oh, I know exactly the place”, Donna said smiling. She’d decided to give her grandfather a nice surprise.

“Which is?”

“Two and a half miles that way”, Donna replied pointing behind her.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wilf was given the surprise of his life when the blue box that his granddaughter Donna had constantly gone on about appeared in the night sky where he was star gazing. A big smile appeared on his face when he looked through his telescope to see Donna standing in the open doorway waving at him. Next to her were two very familiar people. Wilf’s eyes widened when he recognised them as the couple he’d met at Christmas.

Donna had once described them to him, telling him their names. The Doctor and Alyssa. And there were waving to him from the blue box. “That's them! Hey, that's them! Ha, ha, ha! Go on, gal! Go on, get up there! Hey!” Wilf did a merry little dance as he watched the TARDIS fly away.


	5. Chatting over a cuppa

“Is he going to be alright?” Donna asked Alyssa as she looked back on the Time Lord who was still sulking in the captain’s chair.

“He’ll be fine”, Alyssa said knowing that he would cheer up once they were on another adventure. She led Donna down a few corridors until she stopped outside of a door. “This is your room”, the red head said pushing open a door. Donna was surprised to see that the room was empty.

“Its empty Ali”, she pointed out.

“For the moment”, Alyssa said and closed the door “now I want you to close your eyes and picture your dream bedroom”.

“Why?” Donna asked confused.

“You’ll see”, Alyssa said.

Donna looked at her for a moment before closing her eyes and picturing the bedroom she’d always wanted. As she was doing that, Alyssa rubbed her chest as she’d gotten a strange feeling in her chest. It was the same one she had on the Titanic and occasionally gotten in the months prior to seeing Donna again. Alyssa never told the Doctor about it as she didn’t want him to worry. Besides the feeling she’d get in her chest wasn’t painful at all, it was uncomfortable. “Ok you can open your eyes now”, Alyssa told Donna when she saw the ginger’s name appear on the door, just like it did for herself and Martha’s rooms.

Donna looked at Alyssa when she saw her name on the door “go ahead”, Alyssa said and Donna opened the door. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the room that she’d imagined in her head. “I take it this is how you imagined the room to be?” Alyssa asked following the surprised ginger inside.

“Down to the last detail”, Donna replied “this is incredible! Thank you!” Alyssa smiled as the woman happily hugged her.

“Don’t thank me. Thank Sexy”, Alyssa said.

Donna looked up at the ceiling and said “thanks Sexy”.

**_You’re welcome_ **

“She says you’re welcome”, Alyssa said as she knew the woman couldn’t hear the TARDIS speak “I think if you check, you might find all your stuff has been moved in here”. Sure enough when Donna pulled open a drawer, she found the shirt’s she’d packed.

“Amazing”, Donna said.

“You think creating bedrooms is amazing, you haven’t seen anything yet”, Alyssa said “but I know you’ve got questions. Did you want to grab a tea and have a chat or did you want to have a bit more of a tour around the TARDIS?”

“I think I’d like to have a chat. Could we do the tour tomorrow?” Donna asked.

“Sure”, Alyssa replied. She then left the room with Donna to take her to the kitchen. “So what do you want to know?” Alyssa asked when they reached the reasonable sized kitchen.

“I’ve got so many questions. I don’t know where to start”, Donna admitted.

“Well as the song goes ‘let’s start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start’”, Alyssa said crossing the kitchen floor to the kettle. Donna sat down at the table listening to Alyssa as explained how she first met the Doctor whilst making the tea.

“I don’t believe it. He actually pretended to be a human?” Donna asked finding that hard to imagine.

“Yep. He did a pretty good job of it actually” Alyssa replied going to the table with two mugs of tea. “I didn’t even know he was an alien until after we’d stopped Tanya”, Alyssa then launched into the tale of how the reporter was an alien in disguise who’d almost killed her twice. It was thanks to the Doctor that Tanya was unsuccessful “…shortly after that he took me on as a companion”.

“The last time I met you, you were with Ben and pretty excited about you’re upcoming to across Europe”, Donna said “So how did you end up in a relationship with the Doctor?”

“It was Martha”, Alyssa said “She was the one who made us both realise we loved each other. Which should’ve been a wonderful discovery except…”

“You were already in a relationship”, Donna finished.

“Exactly”, Alyssa said “For a while I was torn between the Doctor and Ben. I loved them both. Eventually I’d chosen the Doctor. Which brought up another problem. How to tell my boyfriend that I was breaking up with him because I was in love with someone else”.

“I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for you”, Donna remarked.

“Well it was made a whole lot easier when I received an anonymous email which told me Ben had been cheating on me” Donna’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“He was cheating on you?!” the ginger cried.

“Yep”, Alyssa said popping the p.

“Ben’s an idiot”

“You got that right”, Alyssa agreed.

“Would it be ok if I slapped him for cheating on you?” Donna asked really hoping she’d say yes.

“That won’t be necessary Donna”, Alyssa assured her “As far as I’m concerned its Ben’s loss. Besides I’m with the Doctor now and its going really well”.

“It doesn’t put you off the fact that he’s so skinny?” Donna asked getting a laugh from Alyssa.

“Not really. Appearances doesn’t matter when you really love someone which I do. I love my spaceman with all my heart”, she said.

“Spaceman?” Donna asked.

“Yeah you’re nickname for him kinda stuck. He doesn’t mind”, Alyssa paused briefly “At least I don’t think he does”. There was a moment of silence while both women drank their tea.

“Ali how did you manage to stop us from getting shot by Miss Foster’s guards?”

“I used my powers”, Alyssa replied.

“Powers?”

“I have psychic powers that allow me to move things”, Alyssa told her.

“Like Miss Foster and her guards”, Donna said.

“Exactly. For stopping the bullets I created a wall of psychic energy so they hit that instead of us”, Alyssa explained.

“Why didn’t you use them at Christmas?” Donna asked thinking about those exploding baubles at the reception. 

“I didn’t have those particular powers at that point. The only thing I had then was my empath ones. That’s the sensing of feelings and emotions”

“How did you gain you powers?” Donna asked, interested.

“My empath ones I was born with. I inherited those from my paternal grandmother Emma. The other ones I obtained during my travels with the Doctor” Alyssa proceeded to tell Donna about what happened at the convention. Donna wasn’t quite sure what to say about what Alyssa had just told her. “I realise I’ve told you quite a lot Donna and I get if this all sounds unbelievable…”

“Actually Ali I do believe you. How did the Doctor take it?”

“He was surprised by it. However he was very supportive and went out of his way to help me control these powers. In all honesty don’t think I could’ve managed without him”, Alyssa said.

“You really love him don’t you?” Donna asked seeing the look on Alyssa’s face when she spoke about the Doctor.

“I do love him Donna. So much”, she said honestly.

“So are you really going to not kiss him for a week? Because the cable breaking wasn’t his fault”

“I know Donna. But I warned him what would happen if the cable did break. Although I may possibly only make it a few days instead of a whole week. Just don’t tell the Doctor that”, Alyssa said saying the last part quietly.

“Don’t worry Ali I won’t”, Donna promised.


	6. Fires of Pompeii part 1

“Ancient Rome!” the Doctor announced pulling back a curtain to reveal a street lined with stalls offering various types of goods. Both Alyssa and Donna smiled at the scene before them. The red head was happy to be in another time period as this made her second trip into history. Her first being 1599 where she’d met Shakespeare. The ginger woman was just as happy that this was what she got for her first proper trip in the TARDIS, as a companion.

“Though technically to all of them, this is brand new Rome”, Alyssa added nodding to the people who were wandering about.

“Oh, my God. It’s…it's so Roman. This is fantastic”, Donna said happily before hugging both Alyssa and the Doctor individually. “I'm here, in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome”, she said excitedly as she, the Doctor and Alyssa started to walk down the street. This was a hundred times better than her holiday the Egypt. The ginger sobered up when she realised something. They were in Rome, in the past. Which meant she was technically watching people who’d been dead for centuries. When she told the Doctor and Alyssa that, the Time Lord said quietly

“Well, don't tell them that”

Donna then spotted sign advertising two Amphora’s for the price of one. She was a little confused as it was in English. “Hold on a minute. That sign over there's in English”, she said pointing it out to the Doctor and Alyssa. “Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?”

“No, no, no, no. That's the TARDIS translation circuits. Just makes it look like English”, the Doctor said quickly “Speech as well”. Alyssa couldn’t help think about her trip around Europe where it was exactly like right now. The signs where in English and the people were speaking it too. The TARDIS hadn’t been in any of the places at the same time as she was, at least she didn’t think so, that meant the only explanation for it was her bond with the blue box. “You're talking Latin right now”

“Seriously?” Donna asked.

“Yep”, Alyssa said popping the p.

“I just said seriously in Latin”, Donna said.

“Oh, yeah”, the Doctor said.

“What if I said something in actual Latin, like ‘veni, vidi, vici’? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said ‘veni, vidi, vici’ to that lot, what would it sound like?” Donna asked.

“I'm not sure”, the Doctor replied not having really thought about what it would sound like if you spoke the actual language.

“Me neither”, Alyssa admitted. She was so used everything being in English, due to the TARDIS, she would sometimes forget that she was actually hearing another language.

“You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?” the Doctor asked.

Alyssa lightly whacked his arm “rude”, she lightly scolded.

“Still not ginger”, the Doctor said. It really wasn’t fair, both women had red/ginger hair. He was the only one out of the three of them who wasn’t a ginger. He sincerely hoped that he was ginger in his next body. If he wasn’t… well he might do something drastic like wear a bow tie or even worse… a fez. The Doctor couldn’t understand why Alyssa loved wearing them. They were a basic hat that sometimes had a silly black tassel hanging down. A Stetson or even the red trilby Alyssa wore once, are much better hats than a fez. He would often voice his dislike for the hat which only served for Alyssa to wear them more just to annoy him. Although if he had to be completely honest, he wasn’t as annoyed by her wearing them as he let on. It’s true he didn’t love fezzes as much as Alyssa seemed to but he’d have to admit that she looked rather attractive wearing one. Then again he was biased in that regard, she could covered in dirt or wearing a bin bag and he’d still find her attractive. The Doctor was never going to tell her that he only complained about her wearing a fez just to see her wear them more often because then she’d stop.

“I'm going to try it”, Donna said bringing the Doctor out of his thoughts. When she’d gone over to a fruit seller, the Time Lord turned his attention to Alyssa.

“What?” she asked seeing him gazing at her with a loving look on his face.

“You look beautiful”, he said taking in her appearance once again. She’d decided to dress for the times, which was a nice surprise for the Doctor. Her outfit consisted of a light blue toga with a silver cord wrapped around her waist showing off her figure; a pair of sandals and her charm bracelet. Her hair was pulled back a low bun with a few wavy tendrils framing her face.

“You’ve said that already”, Alyssa said with a smile “three times to be exact”.

“I can’t help it”, the Doctor said “you really are beautiful, like a goddess”.

Alyssa blushed “I’m not a goddess”, she said.

“Yes you are” the Doctor placed a hand on her cheek “you’re my brilliant red haired goddess”. He leaned in to give her a kiss when she put a finger on his lips, stopping him.

“What did I tell you? No kisses for a week”, Alyssa said trying to be firm although it was a little difficult when he’d just complimented her like that “Although I might take that down to a few days if you do something to impress me”, she added removing her finger. The Doctor smiled, he’d been trying to think of a way to get her to change her mind once he had come out of his sulk. And she’d just given it to him.

Donna walked up to them with a confused look “you ok Donna?” Alyssa asked.

“That man just said I sounded Celtic when I spoke Latin” Donna said “What does he mean Celtic?”

“Welsh. You sound Welsh”, the Doctor said.

“Well I’ve learned something new today. Latin sounds Welsh to a Roman person”, Alyssa said. The trio walked off unaware that they were being watched.

“Don't our clothes look a bit odd?” Donna asked as they walked. She wondered if she should’ve dressed up like Alyssa to fit in with the times.

“Nah. Ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger”, the Doctor replied. Alyssa glanced around looking for places she’d seen in present day Rome. But there was nothing familiar like the Colosseum which she would’ve expected to see by now given the sheer size of it.

“I’ve got a question. If this is ancient Rome, where are all the landmarks?” Alyssa asked “We should at least be seeing something by now. I mean the Colosseum is huge”.

“You’ve got a good point, love. Where is everything?” the Doctor led them down an alley way. Alyssa glanced back when they entered, getting the sense that someone was following them. But there was no one there.

“Not an expert, but there's seven hills of Rome, aren't there?” Donna asked noticing the huge _single_ mountain in the distance.

“Yes there is”, Alyssa replied not looking at the mountain but behind them. She still felt like someone was there watching them.

“So how come they've only got one?” that got Alyssa’s attention. She looked at the mountain and her eyes widened.

“Oh god”, she breathed. The Doctor was about to ask her what was wrong when the ground shook. Smoke rose from the top of the mountain confirming Alyssa’s fears.

“Wait a minute. One mountain, with smoke. Which makes this…” Donna began

“Pompeii”, the Doctor finished, staring in horror at the smoking volcano “We're in Pompeii. And it's volcano day!”

The moment the Doctor realised they were in Pompeii, he grabbed Alyssa’s hand and ran to where he’d parked the TARDIS. His hearts sank when he pulled back the curtain to find the blue box was missing.

“You're kidding”, Donna said when she arrived slightly out of breath from running after the couple “You're not telling me the TARDIS has gone”.

“Okay”, the Doctor said.

“Where is it then?” Donna asked.

“You… told me not to tell you”, the Doctor replied cheekily making Alyssa crack a smile at that.

“Oi! Don't get clever in Latin!”

“Hold on” the Doctor ran to the seller Donna had been talking to earlier, the two woman following. “Excuse me. Excuse me. There was a box. Big blue box. Big blue wooden box, just over there. Where's it gone?”

“Sold it, didn't I?” the seller said smugly.

“She wasn’t yours to sell”, Alyssa said cross that this man had guts to sell something that didn’t even belong to him.

“It was on my patch, weren't it?” the seller said.

“That doesn’t automatically give you the right to sell her!” Alyssa shouted.

“Who'd you sell it to?” the Doctor asked quickly wanting to get his beloved box back as soon as possible so they could leave. He was well aware that Vesuvius erupting was a fixed point in time, it had to happen. He knew that Donna wasn’t going to understand why they couldn’t do anything, why they couldn’t warn people about the impending disaster. His only hope was that Alyssa _would_ understand and would help him to get Donna to leave.

“Old Caecilius. Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it out with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa. Can't miss it”, the seller said.

“Thanks”, the Doctor said and ran off with Donna and Alyssa. Less than a second later he was back “What'd he buy a big blue wooden box for?” he asked. Alyssa came back grabbed his hand and dragged him off. “You didn’t let him answer my question”, the Doctor said as they walked to where Donna was waiting for them.

“What question?” Alyssa asked.

“Why did he buy a wooden box?”

“Because he’s an idiot”, Alyssa stated “who’s bought a box. Now he’s an idiot with a…box” Alyssa stopped walking making the Doctor stop as he was holding her hand.

“What is it?”

“I think I’ve just had a ‘feeling’”, Alyssa replied.

“About Caecilius?” the Doctor asked and Alyssa nodded. Prior to the year-that-never-was she only occasionally got feelings about things or people but since then, she’d been getting them more. Whenever she got a ‘feeling’, the Doctor always encouraged her to talk about it no matter how vague it may be.

“Yes. I don’t know why but I have a feeling he’s going to look familiar to me”, Alyssa said.

“I guess we’ll find out when we meet him”, the Doctor said.

\------------------

The Doctor and Alyssa ran back down the street looking for Donna. They’d split up from her in order to find Foss Street. Though they hadn’t been looking long until Alyssa had found it. “Donna! We’ve found Foss Street”, the Doctor said when they ran into the ginger coming the other way. The Time Lord grabbed her hand with his free one, as his other was still holding Alyssa’s hand. His girlfriend tried to lead them all back the way they’d come but Donna tugged her hand out of the Doctor’s grasp.

“Not yet”, Donna said “I found this big sort of amphitheatre thing. We can start there. We can gather everyone together. Maybe they've got a great big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?”

“What do you want a bell for?” Alyssa asked confused. The Doctor had informed her of the situation with Pompeii being a fixed point while they were looking for Foss Street. He hated to see the look on her face when he told her, she’d been devastated that they couldn’t do anything to save any of these people. However, she had told him that she understood that what was about to happen _had_ to happen. History was quite literally depending on Vesuvius erupting.

“To warn everyone. Start the evacuation. What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?”

“It's 79AD, twenty third of August, which makes volcano day tomorrow”, the Doctor replied.

“Plenty of time. We could get everyone out easy”, Donna said.

“Yeah, except we're not going to”, the Doctor told her.

This time Donna was the one who was confused. The Doctor, the man who saves people had just said that they weren’t going to do anything to help the people of Pompeii. “But that's what you do. You're the Doctor. You save people!”

“Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history”, the Doctor said.

“What is going to happen tomorrow, has to happen. There is no stopping it”, Alyssa added knowing that she had to back the Doctor up on this. If it was only the Doctor trying to convince Donna that there was nothing they could do, the ginger was likely fight against him. But if she also told Donna that they couldn’t do anything, there was a chance that she’d listen.

“Says who?” Donna asked folding her arms. She was a little hurt that Alyssa was taking the Doctor’s side in this. She had hoped that the red head would help her to convince the Time Lord that they had to do something. And it would’ve been likely that the Doctor would listen to her seeing as she was his girlfriend.

“Says me”, the Doctor said deciding that if Donna was going to blame someone for stopping her trying to save these people, it was better she put all the blame on him instead putting it on both himself and Alyssa.

“What, and you're in charge?” Donna asked incredulously.

“TARDIS, Time Lord, yeah!”

“Donna, human, no!” Donna argued back. 

“Ali, human, we have to go!” Alyssa added really wanting to get to the TARDIS.

“I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself”, Donna said not about to be deterred in warning people about the imminent volcano eruption.

“You stand in the market place announcing the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer. Now, come on. TARDIS. We are getting out of here”, the Doctor took Alyssa’s hand and walked hurriedly away.

“Well, I might just have something to say about that, Spaceman!” Donna shouted as she hurried after them.

“Oh, I bet you will”, the Doctor called back. By the time they’d reached Caecilius’ villa, the ground was shaking from yet another tremor. The Time Lord entered the home just in time to catch a marble bust as if toppled off its plinth. “There you go”, he said setting it upright. Alyssa stopped in the doorway making Donna bump into her as she stared at Caecilius. He looked exactly like the Scottish stranger she’d met in the graveyard!


	7. Fires of Pompeii part 2

“Thank you, kind sir”, Caecilius said grateful that his bust hadn’t been broken “I’m afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor”.

“But that's me, I'm a visitor. Hello”, the Doctor said cheerfully shaking his hand.

“Who are you?” Caecilius asked.

“I am… Spartacus”, the Doctor replied.

“And so am I”, Donna added. She gave Alyssa a nudge when she hadn’t introduced herself. To be fair she was still surprised by Caecilius. How could she not be? He looked like the Scottish stranger from the graveyard minus the accent. Also he was slightly younger than the man she’d met but still what were the odds she would run into someone who looked like the man who’d given her the advice which helped her deal with the loss of her grandmother. Was Caecilius an ancestor of his? That would explain the resemblance. The only way she was going to know for sure was to go back to the time when she met him.

“Oh, I’m Octavia”, she said. The Doctor was a bit disappointed that she’d not called herself Spartacus too but he could see that she seemed to be distracted by the man in front of them.

“Mister and Mrs Spartacus?” Caecilius asked gesturing at the Doctor and Donna.

“Oh no, no, no. We're not, we're not married”, the Doctor said quickly taking Alyssa’s hand to show which woman he was in a relationship with.

“We're not together”, Donna hastily added “these two are husband and wife”.

“Oh so you two are sisters then?” Caecilius asked looking between Alyssa and Donna “You look very much alike”.

“I suppose we do but I think that Octavia here is the prettiest one out of the both of us”, Donna said.

“And very brilliant”, the Doctor added. Alyssa blushed at their compliments.

“Well I think my sister is equally brilliant and pretty”, she said making Donna smile. She was rather flattered that Alyssa thought she was just as brilliant as herself.

“Anyway back to business”, the Doctor said to Caecilius knowing that they’ve wasted time in chatting to the man, they had to find the TARDIS and leave.

“I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade”, Caecilius said apologetically.

“And that trade would be?” the Doctor asked.

“Marble. Lopus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man”, Caecilius answered.

“That’s good because my husband here is the marble inspector”, Alyssa said pulling her hand out of the Doctor’s and moved past Caecilius. Her face broke out into a smile when she saw the TARDIS tucked away in a corner.

“By the gods of commerce, an inspection”, Caecilius’ wife gasped. She took the cup of wine away from her son and pours it out into the pool behind him “I'm sorry, sir. I do apologise for my son”.

“Oi!” the boy cried annoyed at his mother.

“And this is my good wife, Metella. I must confess, we're not prepared for a…”

“Nothing to worry about although that doesn’t look like marble to me”, Alyssa said pointing to the TARDIS. She went over to it and knocked on the door “nope that’s definitely not marble. It’s wood. I’m afraid we’re going to have to take this”.

“I only bought it today”, Caecilius protested.

“Ah, well… Caveat emptor”, the Doctor said as he and Donna joined Alyssa by the TARDIS.

“Oh, you're Celtic. They’re lovely”, Caecilius commented politely. 

“Yes, well as my wife said we’re going to have to take this off your hands for a proper inspection”, the Doctor said.

“Although while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?” Donna asked the Doctor.

“Don't know what you mean, Spartacus”, the Doctor said pretending not to understand what she meant.

“Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?” Donna asked.

“Why should we do that?” Caecilius asked her.

“Well, the volcano, for starters”, Donna replied. 

“What?” Caecilius asked puzzled by the word she’d used.

“Volcano”, Donna repeated.

“What-ano?”

“That great big volcano right on your doorstep”, Donna said earning even more confused looks from the family.

“Oh, Spartacus, for shame. We haven't even greeted the household gods yet”, the Doctor said pulling Donna was to the shrine. “They don't know what it is. Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet”, he told her quietly.

“The Romans don’t have a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow”, Alyssa added equally quietly.

“Oh, great, they can learn a new word as they die”, Donna said sarcastically. She turned to Alyssa going to try one last time to appeal to the woman, to get her to change her mind about leaving. “Ali that boy is going to die tomorrow. Are you ok with that?” Alyssa didn’t say anything “what if that boy was Connie?” Donna asked recalling her wedding reception and how Alyssa had acted when tending to the child “would you leave her to burn to death? Or would you save her?”

Alyssa glanced at Caecilius’ and Metella’s son feeling conflicted. She knew that as it was fixed point they couldn’t do anything to warn people about the impending disaster as it would completely change history. But would it hurt to get this family out of Pompeii? Surely history wouldn’t be changed too much by Caecilius, Metella and their son suriving Vesuvius erupting. _There must’ve been some survivors_ she thought vaguely remembering about 20,000 people died when the volcano blew. She was sure that number wasn’t the whole population of Pompeii which suggested there were survivors.

The Doctor knew what Donna was trying to do, she was playing on Alyssa’s feelings towards children in an effort to get her to change her mind about leaving. “Donna we can’t warn them. This is fixed point in history”, the Doctor reminded her. Donna opened her mouth to argue when Caecilius’ servant called out

“Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government”. At those words an older man entered the room wearing a cloak that covered the right half of his body.

“Lucius. My pleasure, as always”, Caecilius greeted.

“Quintus, stand up” Metella whispered to her son who did so rather reluctantly.

“A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house” Caecilius reached out his hand to shake Lucius’ but the older man keeps his right hand hidden under his cloak.

“The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west”, Lucius said.

“Quite. Absolutely. That's good, is it?” Caecilius asked a bit puzzled by the man’s remark.

“Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow”

“There now, Metella. Have you ever heard such wisdom?” Caecilius asked.

“Never. It's an honour”, Metella replied.

“Pardon me, sir. I have guests. This is Spartacus, Spartacus and Octavia”, Caecilius said gesturing to the trio by the shrine who wave.

“A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind”

“But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark”, the Doctor retorted.

“Ah. But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?” Lucius asked taking this as a challenge from the strangely dressed man.

“I concede that every sun must set…”the Doctor began. 

“Ha!”

“…and yet the son of the father must also rise”, he finished with a smug look. 

“Damn. Very clever, sir. Evidently, a man of learning”, Lucius remarked.

“Oh, yes. But don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo”, the Doctor said.

“He's Celtic”, Caecilius informed Lucius.

“We'll be off in a minute” the Doctor said leading Alyssa and Donna towards the TARDIS.

“I'm not going”, Donna insisted.

“It's ready, sir”, Caecilius told Lucius.

“You've got to”, the Doctor whispered.

“Well, I'm not”, Donna said firmly.

“The moment of revelation. And here it is”, Caecilius pulled a cloth off of a square piece of marble. The Doctor looked back over his shoulder to see what appeared to be a circuit carved onto the marble. “Exactly as you specified. It pleases you, sir?”

“As the rain pleases the soil”

“Oh, now that's different”, the Doctor said walking forward to get a closer look “Who designed that, then?”

“My Lord Lucius was very specific”, Caecilius replied. 

“Where'd you get the pattern?” Alyssa questioned.

“On the rain and mist and wind”

“But that looks like a circuit”, Donna pointed out.

“Made of stone”, the Doctor added.

“Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?” Donna asked Lucius.

“That is my job, as City Augur”

“What's that, then, like the mayor?” Donna asked.

“Oh, ha. You must excuse my sister-in-law, she's from…Barcelona” the Doctor turned and led Donna off a little ways to explain what an Augur was “Not, but this is an age of superstition, of _official_ superstition. The Augur is paid by the city to tell the future. ‘The wind will blow from the west’, that's the equivalent of ten o'clock news”

“They're laughing at us”, a female voice said. Alyssa, the Doctor and Donna looked over to see a rather ill looking young woman enter the room “Those three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us”

“No, no, I'm not. I meant no offence”, the Doctor quickly said.

“I'm sorry. My daughter's been consuming the vapours”, Metella explained.

“Oh for gods, Mother. What have you been doing to her?” Quintus said very worried for his sister.

“Not now, Quintus”

“Yeah, but she's sick. Just look at her!” Quintus pressed.

“I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift”, Lucius remarked eyeing the young woman in the yellow toga.

“Oh, Evelina has been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions”, Metella said proudly.

“The prophecies of women are limited and dull”, Lucius scoffed “Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception”

“Talk about sexist”, Alyssa muttered.

“I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate”, Donna added.

“The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you”, Lucius warned as the ground trembled as if offended by what Alyssa and Donna had just said.

“Consuming the vapours, you say?” the Doctor asked looking at Evelina.

“They give me strength”, Evelina said.

“It doesn't look like it to me”, the Doctor remarked.

“Is that your opinion… as a doctor?” Evelina asked.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Doctor, that's your name” Evelina turned her attention to Alyssa “and she is Alyssa, your lover”.

“How did you know that?” the Doctor asked taken aback by the fact that she knew his name and Alyssa’s.

“And you…you call yourself Noble”, Evelina said looking at Donna.

“Now then, Evelina. Don't be rude”, Metella warned.

“No, no, no, no. Let her talk”, the Doctor said. While he had been surprised that Evelina knew who they were, he was still interested in what she had to say.

“All three of you both come from so far away”, Evelina said swaying slightly on the spot.

“The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries”

“Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you've been out-soothsayed”, the Doctor said.

“Is that so… _man from Gallifrey?_ ” Lucius said earning a shocked look from the Doctor.

“What?”

“The strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?” Lucius asked.

“Doctor, what are they doing?” Alyssa asked feeling rather uneasy about how they knew who they were and where the Doctor was from.

“You, daughter of…” Lucius frowned “interesting. You have two mothers. Sarah and Idris”

Alyssa stared at him. She only had one mother, Sarah. While it was true she did have an unusual bond to the TARDIS, the blue box was in no way her mother. So what did he mean by her having _two_ mother’s? “And you, daughter of… London”, Lucius said turning her attention to Donna.

“How does he know that?” Donna asked now starting to get rather scared at that fact that they not only knew their names but where they were from.

“This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth”

“That’s impossible”, Donna breathed.

“Doctor…she is returning”, Lucius said.

“Who is? Who’s she?” the Doctor demanded.

“She is returning”, Lucius repeated “when she does….” his gaze shifted over to Alyssa “someone will die”. At those words the Doctor tugged Alyssa behind him. The way he was looking at her implied that she was the one who was going to die. And he wasn’t about to let that happen. Not now… not when this ‘she’ returns…not ever.

“You, daughter of London… there is something on your back”, Lucius told Donna.

“What's that mean?” Donna asked now very scared. Lucius didn’t answer her, just simply smirked.

“Even the word ‘Doctor’ is false”, Evelina said stepping forward “Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord…of Time” she then collapsed.

“Evelina!” Metella exclaimed as she hurried to her unconscious daughter, the Doctor going over as well. 


	8. Fires of Pompeii part 3

Alyssa and Donna stood back watching Metella tend to a still unconscious Evelina. “She didn't mean to be rude”, the woman said apologetically “She's ever such a good girl. But when the gods speak through her… Metella unwrapped the bandage on Evelina’s arm to reveal grey skin beneath it.

“What's wrong with her arm?” Donna asked.

“An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night”, Metella replied.

“What is it?” Alyssa questioned stepping closer getting the feeling that it was much more than an irritation of the skin.

“Evelina said you both come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like it?” Metella asked.

Donna stepped forward and lightly touched Evelina’s arm “it’s stone”, she replied surprised to be feeling stone under her fingers instead of skin. “What do you think Ali?” she asked turning to the red head. Alyssa had told her about her powers, how she was able to sense things. Donna wondered if perhaps she could sense the cause of Evelina’s arm turning to stone. Alyssa stepped forward and tentatively put her hand on the young woman’s arm. Her eyes widened when she sensed that something was changing Evelina and not in a good way.

“It’s nothing to worry about Metella. Should clear up in a few days”, Alyssa assured her. Metella relaxed looking rather relieved about that. Donna eyed Alyssa knowing full well that she’d just lied to the woman.

“Why did you lie to her?” Donna asked as she and Alyssa left Metella alone with Evelina.

“Because I didn’t want to worry her by telling her the truth”, Alyssa said.

“Which is?” Alyssa glanced back towards Evelina’s room.

“Something is changing Evelina from the inside”, Alyssa said.

“Changing her into what?” Donna asked worried for the young woman.

“Something non-human” Donna’s eyes widened at that “and I have a feeling that the vapours Evelina has been consuming is the cause for the change that’s happening inside of her. Keep an eye on her Donna”. The Ginger woman nodded.

“What about you?” Donna asked.

“I’m going to have a chat with Caecilius. See what he knows”, Alyssa replied. She found the man sitting by the hypocaust talking to the Doctor. Alyssa hung back not wanting to interrupt them.

“Didn't you think of moving away?” the Doctor asked. He then thought about what he said and quickly added “Oh no, then again, San Francisco…”

Caecilius looked at him a bit confused “That's a new restaurant in Naples, isn't it?” he asked having never heard of San Francisco before. A loud howling sounded from the within the hypocaust making the Doctor look down peering through the smoke to try and see what was making that noise. Alyssa made herself known to the two men by coming up and asking the very same question that was on the Doctor’s mind.

“What is that noise?” the Doctor asked.

“Don't know. Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring”, Caecilius replied.

“But after the earthquake, let me guess… Is that when the soothsayers started making sense?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh, yes, very much so. I mean, they'd always been, shall we say, ‘imprecise’? But then the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth again and again” Alyssa frowned at that _how can a simple earthquake enable all the various ‘psychics’ to make perfect predictions every time?_ she thought “It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision”

“Haven't they said anything about tomorrow?” the Doctor asked. He winced when Alyssa lightly hit him upside the head. He rubbed the back of his head knowing this time at least she was justified in hitting him upside the head. He’d just asked about tomorrow, something he shouldn’t have done as it being a fixed point, he wasn’t allowed to change a single thing that happened.

“No”, Caecilius answered “Why, should they? Why do you ask?”

“He was just curious”, Alyssa quickly replied “Evelina consumes the vapours right? Just like all the soothsayers do”.

“That’s right. It’s how my daughter and the others see”, Caecilius told her.

“Ipso facto…” the Doctor said putting on his glasses before he leaned into the hypocaust.

“Look you…” Caecilius started but the Doctor straightened with tiny particles of rock pinched in his fingers.

“They’re all consuming this” he rubbed his fingers together letting the rock particles fall.

“Dust?” Caecilius asked looking at it confused.

“Tiny particles of rock”, Alyssa grimaced when the Doctor tasted the remaining fragments of rock from his fingers. If Alyssa hadn’t given the Doctor a kissing ban already she might’ve considered it as him tasting rock was rather gross. “They’re breathing in Vesuvius”, the Doctor told the pair. Alyssa looked down into the hypocaust at that. The Doctor noted the look on her face as she gazed down into the hole, something was bothering her.

He took her aside so he could talk to her in private. “What’s wrong?” the Doctor asked.

“It’s Evelina. She has this irritation on her arm but when I touched it, it felt like stone. I used my powers to see if I could sense the reason for it. And I did. Something is slowly changing her from the inside Doctor”, Alyssa explained.

“And Evelina has been breathing in rock particles from Vesuvius. You think that’s whats changing her?” he asked thinking about how there _was_ something a bit different about the particles he tasted from the hypocaust.

“Partially. There has to be something more she and the other soothsayers are breathing in”, Alyssa said.  

“Unless there’s alien rock monsters living within Vesuvius”, the Doctor remarked.

“You think that’s possible? Alien rock monsters?” Alyssa asked.

“Anything’s possible Ali. And I think there’s one place we’re sure to find some answers”, the Doctor said.

“Where?”

“Lucius Petrus Dextrus’ house”. As neither of them knew where he lived, they decided to ask Quintus for help. They found the teenager reclined on a sofa once again drinking wine. “Quintus, me old son. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus. Where does he live?” the Doctor asked him.

“It's nothing to do with me”, Quintus said.

“Let me try again. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus…” the Time Lord pulled out a gold coin from behind Quintus’ ear, getting the boy’s attention “Where does he live?”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Don't tell my Dad”, Quintus said when he, the Doctor and Alyssa stopped outside Lucius’ house.

“Only if you don't tell mine”, the Doctor said after he’d jumped onto a barrel and pulled open the shutters that covered the window. Alyssa watched him climb through the window before following. When she got up onto the window sill, the Doctor took hold of her hands and helped her down into the Villa. “Pass me that torch”, he said to Quintus who did so. “Anyone coming?” the Doctor asked Alyssa who shook her head, she couldn’t sense anyone coming their way. The Time Lord walked around the glowing hypocaust and peeked behind a set of large drapes. “Give me a hand”, he said to Alyssa taking hold of the cloth with his free hand. Alyssa grabbed hold of it too and together they pulled the drapes away to reveal 6 stone circuits similar to the one Caecilius had made.

“The liar! He told my father it was the only one”, Quintus said having decided to enter the villa at the same moment the two had pulled the drapes away.

“Well, plenty of marble merchants in this town. Tell them all the same thing, get all the components from different places…”

“And no one can see what you're building”, Alyssa finished.

“Which is what?” Quintus asked.

“The future, Doctor”, Lucius said from behind them. The trio spun around to see him standing there flanked by two guards “We are building the future, as dictated by the gods”.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor arranged the marble circuits with Alyssa’s help while Lucius and Quintus watched “Put this one there...” the Doctor took the marble circuit Alyssa was holding and placed in on the shelf with the others. “This one…there. Er, keep that one upside down, and what you got?”

“Enlighten me”, Lucius said.

“What, the soothsayer doesn't know?” the Doctor asked.

“The seed may float on the breeze in any direction”, Lucius replied.

“I think that’s soothsayer speak for ‘I don’t know’”, Alyssa said.

“Definitely”, the Doctor agreed “this is an energy converter”, he added gesturing to the marble circuits on the shelves.

“An energy converter of what?” Lucius questioned.

“I don't know. Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing. Keeps me on my toes just like my gorgeous wife does”, the Doctor gave Alyssa a smile who returned it. “It must be awful being a prophet, waking up every morning” he moved to stand beside Lucius, looking at him “’is it raining? Yes, it is, I said so’. Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius, hmm? Who gave you these instructions?”

“I think you've rambled enough”, Lucius said.

Alyssa shook her head at that. That was hardly the Doctor rambling. She’d been with the Doctor long enough to know when he was rambling. And she _loved_ listening to him ramble, even if she could barely follow what he was saying, she loved listening to it regardless.

The Time Lord even scoffed at that. He also knew that he wasn’t rambling. It seemed that Lucius didn’t know much else about him other than where he was from and quite possibly that he was a different species. “Lucius, really, tell me. Honestly, I'm on your side. I can help”, the Doctor said.

“You insult the gods. There can be only one sentence. At arms!” the Doctor quickly moved back to Alyssa’s side as the guards stepped forwards, drawing their short swords.

“Oh, morituri te salutant”, the Doctor said.

“Celtic prayers won't help you now”, Lucius told him.

“But it was him, sir. He made me do it”, Quintus cried pointing at the Doctor making Alyssa stare at him in disbelief. He’d been willing to show them where Lucius lived, after the Doctor pulled the trick with the coin but still he _had_ been willing. Now he was trying to put the blame on the Doctor? She wasn’t standing for that at all.

“He didn’t make you do it Quintus. _You_ willingly showed us the way”, Alyssa reminded him.  

“Come on now, Quintus, dignity in death”, the Doctor turned to Lucius “I respect your victory, Lucius. Shake on it?” he held out his hand. He knew Lucius couldn’t shake his hand, not with the one hidden beneath his cloak. Most if not all of it was stone. It was Alyssa who’d tipped him off. She’d been casting glances at Lucius, specifically his non-exposed arm. She had given him a minute nod as if to say that he too was changing. The Doctor guessed that most of his hidden arm was stone, hence why it was under the cloak. He just had to prove it “Come on…” he wiggled his fingers “Dying man's wish?” the Doctor then suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Lucius’s right hand. He yanked hard, pulling the man’s right arm off.

“But he's…”

“Show me”, the Doctor said holding Lucius’ stone arm. Lucius shoved his cloak aside to reveal the stone stump of his right arm.

“The work of the gods”, he said proudly. Alyssa just stared at him, wondering how anyone could be so proud to be turning into a walking statue.

“He's stone!” Quintus exclaimed.

“Armless enough, though” the Doctor tossed the arm back “Whoops!” he grabbed Alyssa’s hand and pulled her towards the window. “Quintus!” he shouted as he helped her up onto the windowsill. She quickly jumped down the other side. Quintus hurled his torch at the guards and ran towards the window too as the Doctor flashed his sonic at the marble circuits causing them to topple over. The two males then make their escape out the window. “Run!” the Doctor shouted taking Alyssa’s hand again. Together they ran as fast as they could away from Lucius’ house with Quintus hot on their heels.


	9. Fires of Pompeii part 4

After a short while of running, the trio stopped. “No sign of them. Nice little bit of allons-y. I think we're all right”

“But his arm, Doctor. Is that what's happening to Evelina?” Quintus asked.

“Yes”, Alyssa replied “but I promise you Quintus we’re going to help your sister”. Quintus opened his mouth to say something when a deep, loud bang sounded.

“What was that?” the Doctor asked.

The noise sounded again. This time the ground shook causing a set of crates to fall over. “The mountain?” Quintus questioned looking up and over in its direction.

 It happened again this time a lot closer than before. “No, it’s closer. Footsteps…” the Doctor stated watching more items falling over as the noise sounded again and again making the ground shake.

“It can’t be”, Quintus said in disbelief.

“Footsteps underground”, the Doctor repeated as it grew even closer. It was coming for them. The Time Lord grabbed Alyssa’s hand and they ran. They hurry down the street, grills flying off hypocaust vents as they pass. When they reached the villa, everyone was gathered in the main area. “Caecilius? All of you, get out”, the Doctor ordered as the entire room was shaking.

“Doctor, Ali what is it?” Donna asked coming over to them.

“I think we're being followed”, Alyssa told her. Before Donna could ask her by what, the hypocaust grill in the villa flies off. Everyone watches as a large rock like creature emerges.

“The gods are with us”, Evelina breathed in awe of the large being.

“Water!” the Doctor shouted seeing that the creature held together internally by magma “We need water. Quintus. All of you, get water. Donna! Ali!” immediately Alyssa, Donna, Quintus and a servant ran to grab containers for water. 

Thankfully Donna and Alyssa found a couple of buckets just sitting in a corner. They snatched them up and hurried back to the main room. But before they could help, the pair were grabbed by the Sibylline Sisters and dragged away, their calls for help muffled by the hands over their mouths.

Completely unaware of the fact that both his girlfriend and companion had been kidnapped, the Doctor tried to talk with the creature “Talk to me! I'm the Doctor. Just tell me who you are”.

The creature opened its mouth to breathe fire once more but this time it was stopped by Quintus who tossed water at it. They all watched as its fire went out causing it to solidify. Then it started cracking, pieces of it falling to the floor before it collapsed completely.

“What was it?” Caecilius asked.

“Carapace of stone, held together by internal magma”, the Doctor explained “Not too difficult to stop, but I reckon that's just the foot soldier”.

“Doctor, or whatever your name is, you bring bad luck on this house”, Metella said giving him a look. She was sure that this man, his wife and sister-in-law was to blame for what was happening.

“I thought your son was brilliant”, the Doctor informed her “Aren't you going to thank him?”

Both Metella and Caecilius look at their son in amazement before pulling him into a hug. The Doctor turned back to look at the pile of rock that was the creature “if there are aliens at work in Pompeii, it's a good thing we stayed”, he muttered. The Doctor glanced around looking for Alyssa and Donna so they could discuss what to do next. But they weren’t there. “Ali? Donna?” he called. There was no answer. Trying not to panic, he looked around again. This time he caught Evelina’s eyes. She quickly looked away but there was no mistaking the look on her face. Guilt.

The Doctor walked over to her “where are they?” he demanded.

“The Sibylline Sisters took them”, Evelina replied quietly.

“You saw Donna and Ali get taken and you didn’t stop them?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m sorry”, Evelina murmured.

“You better hope they haven’t hurt Ali and Donna, because if they have I won’t be held responsible for my own actions”, the Doctor threatened. Evelina watched him go rather afraid of what he might do if he discovered that the women had been hurt.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh I really _hate_ being knocked out”, Alyssa mumbled before she slowly opened her eyes. She frowned at the blurry figure standing above her but when she blinked a couple of times her vision cleared to show that it was one of the soothsayers. And she was holding a dagger. Immediately Alyssa tried to move but found she couldn’t. She’d been tied down to something cold and hard by her wrists and ankles. “You’ve got to be kidding me”, she said realising that she was on an altar of some sort and was about to be sacrificed.

“The false prophets will surrender both their blood and their breath”, the woman declared.

“I won’t be surrendering anything to you”, Alyssa informed her trying to not let on how scared she was at the moment. Which was quite a bit. Who could blame her? She was tied down to an altar going to be sacrificed. Maybe she could use her powers….

“I wouldn’t think about using your gifts if I were you”, the priestess told her “or your friend will die first” Alyssa looked in the direction the soothsayer indicated and saw Donna gagged and tied to a pillar. Alyssa moved her head to look back at the priestess above her. _Play for time_ she thought _keep her talking_.

“What’s your name?” she asked trying to stay calm.

“Spurrina”

“Listen to me Spurrina. The Doctor will be coming for us, and he won’t be happy. So it would be in your best interest to let us go, right now”, Alyssa said. 

“You will be silent!” Spurrina ordered bringing her dagger close to Alyssa’s face.

“No I won’t. Please I’m trying to help you. If the Doctor sees this, I don’t know what he’ll do” Alyssa was very aware of the Oncoming Storm. And the kind of things the Doctor would do when he was like that. “So please just let us go”.

“This prattling will cease forever!” Spurrina declared.

“No please!” Alyssa cried as Spurrina raised the blade….

When an arm grabbed Spurrina’s and roughly yanked her backwards. She was pushed up against a pillar by a very angry Doctor “stay were you are!” he shouted at the other soothsayers who moved to help their sister. “If you’ve hurt her I will _kill_ you”, the Doctor threatened. Spurrina could tell he was very serious by the look on his face. The Time Lord stepped back giving her one last look that told her to stay put.

“You alright?” the Doctor asked Alyssa when he came up to the altar.

“I am now”, she replied honestly. The Doctor got out his sonic and used it on the ropes around her wrists.

“Do you know, I met the Sibyl once” he told her “hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella. Nice teeth” he moved around to the other end to get the ropes around Alyssa’s ankles “she actually had a thing for me” the Doctor helped Alyssa sit up “but she told me it wouldn’t last, couldn’t even begin. She must’ve seen that I was going to meet a beautiful, brilliant red head and fall completely in love with her”. The Doctor placed a hand on her cheek and Alyssa closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. Now that he was there, she felt completely safe despite that fact that she was almost killed moments ago.

“Donna”, Alyssa said opening her eyes when she’d remembered that the ginger was still tied to the pillar. The Doctor watched the soothsayers as Alyssa freed Donna. “Sorry about that”, she apologised.

“It’s alright. Just don’t forget me next time”, Donna said.

“I won’t”, Alyssa promised. She stepped up to stand beside the Doctor who put his arm around her waist. Donna stood one the red head’s other side.

“Let me tell you about the Sibyl, the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you”, the Doctor said scolding the soothsayers “All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, hey? On the blade of a knife?”

“Yes, a knife that now welcomes you!” Spurrina said lifting the knife that she’d picked up while the Doctor and Alyssa had been distracted.

“Show me this man!” a rasping voice called before Spurrina could lunge at the Doctor. All the priestesses turn towards the voice and kneel down with the exception of Spurrina.

“High Priestess, the stranger would defile us”, the priestess protested.

“Let me see. This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake”, the High Priestess remarked.

The Doctor, Alyssa and Donna step towards the red curtain where the voice was coming from “Oh, very perceptive. Where do these words of wisdom come from?” the Doctor asked.

“The gods whisper to me”, the High Priestess replied.

“They've done far more than that. Might I beg audience? Look upon the High Priestess?” the Doctor requested.

Two priestesses drew the curtains aside to reveal the High Priestess completely covered by stone “Oh, my God. What's happened to you?” Donna asked shocked by her appearance.

“The heavens have blessed me”, the High Priestess told her.

“If I might…” the High Priestess held out her hand for the Doctor to touch “Does it hurt?”

“It is necessary” the woman answered.

“Who told you that?” the Doctor asked.

“The voices”, the High Priestess replied.

“Is that what's going to happen to Evelina? Is this what's going to happen to all of you?” Spurrina showed Donna her arm which was like Evelina’s only there was much more stone.

“The blessings are manifold”, Spurrina said sounding rather proud about her arm turning to stone.

Alyssa shook her head “that’s no blessing Spurrina”, she told her.

“The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts”, the Doctor said “But why?”

“This word, this image in your mind. This volcano. What is that?” the High Priestess asked.

“More to the point, why don't you know about it? Who are you?” the Doctor questioned.

“High Priestess of the Sibylline”, the High Priestess replied.

“That’s not what he meant. He meant whatever alien thing that’s inside you turning you into a living statue”, Alyssa spoke up.

“Your knowledge is impossible”, the High Priestess stated.

“You can read my mind. You know what gifts I have so you know I’m telling the truth. Tell us what you are”, Alyssa said.

“We…are…awakening”, the High Priestess said, her voice echoing with another’s.

“The voice of the gods”, Spurrina gasped.

“Words of wisdom, words of power”, the priestesses started chanting.

“Name yourself! Planet of origin. Galactic coordinates. Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation”, the Doctor demanded over the chanting of the priestesses.

“We…are…rising”

“Tell me your name!” the Doctor ordered.

“Pyrovile!” the High Priestess wailed. The priestesses chanting changed to ‘Pyrovile’.

“What's a Pyrovile?” Donna asked.

“Well, that's a Pyrovile, growing inside her. She's a halfway stage”, the Doctor explained.

“That’s the half way stage?!” Alyssa exclaimed.

“Yes”, the Doctor said “That thing in the villa was an adult Pyrovile”.

“And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor”, the High Priestess rasped “and you lover”.  The Doctor was fine with threats being made against him. But Alyssa? Never.

“I warn you…. I'm armed” the Doctor told the High Priestess pulling out a yellow water pistol from his jacket pocket much to the surprise of Donna and Alyssa. “Donna, Ali, get that grill open”

“What for?” Donna asked.

“Come on”, Alyssa said taking her arm and pulling her over to the grill.

“Just. What are the Pyrovile doing here?” the Doctor asked moving around the bed to stand in front of the women, keeping the water pistol trained on the High Priestess.

“We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust”, the High Priestess explained.

“Right, creatures of stone shattered on impact. When was that, seventeen years ago?”

“We have slept beneath for thousands of years”, the High Priestess said.

“Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up, and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves. But why the psychic powers?”

“We opened their minds and found such gifts”, the High Priestess replied “just like your lover”.

“Okay, that's fine. So you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond”, the Doctor said “I get that, I get that, yeah. But seeing the future? That is way beyond psychic. You can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?”

“Got it!” Alyssa called when she and Donna finally managed to pull up the grill.

“Now get down”, the Doctor told them.  

“What, down there? Donna asked.

“Yes, down there” neither women made a move to jump down into the hole “Why can't this lot predict a volcano? Why is it being hidden?”

“Sisters, I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless”, Spurrina said.

“Yeah, but it's got to sting” the Doctor sprayed the High Priestess with water who shrieked in pain. “Get down there!” he said to Alyssa and Donna. This time they did do what he said.

“You fought her off with a water pistol”, Donna stated after they landed in the hypocaust “I bloody love you!”

“Now you know how I feel”, Alyssa said pressing a kiss to the Doctor’s cheek.

“I thought you weren’t going to do that for a week?” the Doctor asked her.

“I wasn’t but you saved both me and Donna. Plus I was rather impressed with the way you used that water pistol on the High Priestess”, Alyssa replied.  

“Enough to take me off the ban?” the Doctor asked hopeful.

“It’s down to three days”, Alyssa said.

The Doctor was rather happy about that. She’d taken four days off just for using a water pistol against an alien. It was going to be rather easy to get her to shorten the ban even more. He glanced down a tunnel “This way”

“Where are we going now?” Donna asked.

“Into the volcano”, the Doctor said.

“No way”

“Yes, way”, the Doctor spun the water pistol “Appian way”.

“But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right for you to stop it?” Donna asked as they walked through the tunnel.

“Still part of history”

“But I'm history to you and so is Ali. Why is that different?” Donna asked.

“Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed”, the Doctor said.

“How do you know which is which?” Donna questioned.

The Doctor stopped walking and turned to Donna “Because that's how I see the universe”, he explained “Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of a Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left”

Alyssa took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze to remind him that he wasn’t alone any more. And he never would be for as long as she was around. “How many people died?”

“Donna stop it”, she said knowing it was hard enough for the Doctor to be here.

“Doctor, how many people died?” Donna repeated.

“20,000”, the Doctor replied quietly.

 “Is that what you can see, Doctor? All twenty thousand? And you think that's all right, do you?” Donna asked.

Before the Doctor could answer, a loud roar sounded. “They know we're here. Come on”, the Doctor said pulling Alyssa along. Donna quickly following after them. It didn’t take them long to reach a large cavern. “It’s the heart of Vesuvius. We’re right in the heart of the mountain”, the Doctor told Alyssa and Donna.

“There’s tons of them”, Alyssa remarked seeing several large Pyroviles wandering around the large space.

“What's that thing?” the Doctor asked noticing a round object in the middle on the cavern. He took out a telescope and used it to take a better look at the object.

“Doctor a Pyrovile is coming over”, Alyssa told him seeing the large rock creature head in their direction.

“That's how they arrived”, the Doctor said seemingly ignoring what Alyssa had just said “Or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?”

“But why do they need a volcano? Maybe it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something?” Donna suggested.

“Oh, it's worse than that”, the Doctor said collapsing the telescope and putting it back into his pocket.

“How could it be worse?” Donna asked at the same time Alyssa said

“The Pyrovile's getting closer”

“Heathens! Defile us!” Lucius suddenly shouted. The trio saw him appear on the far side of the cavern “They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods!”

“Come on!” the Doctor grabbed Alyssa’s hand, the red head taking hold of Donna’s hand and they all ran towards the middle of the cavern.

“We can't go in”, Donna said.

“Well, we can’t exactly go back Donna”, Alyssa told her.

“Crush them! Burn them!” Lucius shouted. A Pyrovile steps in front of them but the Doctor quickly used the water pistol on the creature causing it to move away from the water.

“There is nowhere to run, Doctor, daughter of London and daughter of two mothers”, Lucius called as they ran to the pod.

 _What is it with the two mother’s thing?_ Alyssa thought. “Now then, Lucius. My lords Pyrovillian, don't get yourselves in a lather. In a lava?” he looked at Donna and Alyssa, neither of whom looked that impressed with his joke. “But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish. Once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?”

“My masters will follow the example of Rome itself. An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilisation”, Lucius declared.

“But if you've crashed, and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?” Donna asked.

“The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone”

“What do you mean, gone? Where's it gone?” Alyssa questioned. _First the Adipose Planet is ‘lost’, now the Pyrovile Planet is ‘gone’? That’s some coincidence._

“It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise”, Lucius said.

“Yeah, I should warn you, it's seventy percent water out there”, the Doctor informed him.

“Water can boil. And everything will burn, Doctor”, Lucius said.

“Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you. That's all I needed to know. Donna, Ali” the trio ducked inside the pod and the Doctor closed the door with his sonic.

“Could we be any more trapped?” Donna asked taking a look around the cramped space.

“I don’t think we can”, Alyssa replied. Suddenly the pod got a little hotter.

“Little bit hot”, Donna remarked.

“It’s no hotter than being in a spaceship that was set on a collision course with a living sun”, Alyssa said fanning her face. Donna stared at her wondering if she was being serious. “You said this was an energy converter back at Lucius’ place. What exactly does it do?” she asked the Doctor nodding to the complete marble circuit in front of them.

“What do you think it does?”

“I don’t know that’s why I’m asking”, Alyssa said.  

“Why don’t you just tell us?” Donna asked thinking that now wasn’t really the best time to get Alyssa to try and figure it out.

“You can do this”, the Doctor said.

Alyssa stared at the circuit, her mind going over everything “they want to take over the world, create a new Pyrovillia. And this is how they’re going to do it. The energy converter coupled with the power of the volcano… they can convert millions of people into Pyroviles”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself”, the Doctor said proudly.

“But can't you change it with these controls?” Donna asked.

“Of course I can, but don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt”, the Doctor said.

“But …you can change it back?” Donna asked carefully.

“I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes. But, that's the choice. It's Pompeii or the world”

“Oh, my God”, Donna said shocked.

“If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history, it's me. I make it happen”, the Doctor said with horrible realisation.

“Doctor, the Pyrovile are made of rocks”, Donna pointed out “Maybe they can't be blown up”.

“Vesuvius explodes with the force of twenty four nuclear bombs” the Doctor explained setting the controls “Nothing can survive it”, he looked at the two women sadly “Certainly not us”.

“Never mind us”, Donna said.

The Doctor puts his hands on a lever “Push this lever and its over. 20,000 people” the Time Lord hesitated. He knew he had to do it, it was a fixed point. But he’d be killing all those people not to mention himself along with Donna and Alyssa. Alyssa placed her hands over his, Donna immediately followed suit. They exchanged glances and pulled the lever down together.

All hell broke loose.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor, Donna and Alyssa stumble out of the pod when it landed with crash outside of town. The trio waste no time hurrying back into Pompeii where chaos has erupted in the streets. On the way back to the villa, Donna tried to help people, shouting at them to head for the hills but no one listened. As she ran, Alyssa saw people rushing about, screaming absolutely terrified. Not only did she see it, she could feel it. All of it. And it was too much.

Alyssa stopped in her tracks and with tears in her eyes, she dropped to her knees. “Doctor something’s wrong”, Donna told him having looked back to see that the red head was no longer following them.

“I can feel it. All of it”, Alyssa said quietly as the Doctor approached her. She looked up at him with a tear stained face “it’s too much”.

“I know” the Doctor helped her to her feet “we’ve got to get back to the TARDIS. Can you run?” he asked fully prepared to carry her the rest of the way if he had to.

Alyssa nodded “yes I can”. He held out his hand which she took and grabbed Donna’s hand with her free one. The three of them ran hand in hand towards Caecilius’ villa. When they entered, they found the family cowering in a corner. Seeing this, Alyssa pulled her hand out of the Doctor’s. The Time Lord didn’t notice as he was too busy making his way to the TARDIS. “Donna go into the TARDIS”, Alyssa said.

“Why?” Donna asked.

“Just go, I’ll be right behind you” Donna didn’t wait for Alyssa to tell her a third time. She hurried into the TARDIS where the Doctor was preparing to leave.

“Come with me”, Alyssa said to Caecilius holding out her hand. The older man wasted no time grabbing her hand and getting to his feet. They were going to live!

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caecilius and his family watched from the hillside as ash covered Pompeii. “It's never forgotten, Caecilius”, the Doctor assured him “Oh, time will pass, men'll move on, and stories will fade. But one day, Pompeii will be found again. In thousands of years. And everyone will remember you”

“What about you, Evelina? Can you see anything?” Donna asked Evelina.

“The visions have gone”, Evelina replied although she glanced at Alyssa with a look that told her that may not be quite true.

“The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time, just for a second. That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative”, the Doctor explained not having seeing the look Evelina gave Alyssa “But not anymore. You're free”.

“But tell me. Who are you, Doctor? With your words, and your temple containing such size within?” Metella questioned.

“Oh, I was never here. Don't tell anyone”, the Doctor said.

“The great god Vulcan must be enraged. It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of…volcano. All those people” Metella hugged her husband, tears slipping down her face as she grieved for all those who lost their lives.

The Doctor and Donna slipped away leaving the family to their grief. Alyssa took Evelina aside so her family wouldn’t overhear them “you had another vision didn’t you?” she asked.

“I did. It came to me while we were in that temple of yours”, Evelina replied.

“What did you see?” Alyssa asked.

“It wasn’t really clear what was going on”, Evelina replied “but it left me with this bad feeling about you”.

“Me?”

Evelina nodded “yes. Please promise me that you’ll be careful”, she said.

“I will. Take care Evelina”, Alyssa said and then left. “Sorry I took so long. I was talking to Evelina”, Alyssa informed the Doctor and Donna when she stepped into the TARDIS and closed the door.

“That’s alright. Where do you two want to go next?” the Doctor asked the women.

“I don’t know about you but I want to freshen up and change clothes”, Donna replied.

“That sounds nice but there’s somewhere I need to go first”, Alyssa said.

“Where?” the Doctor asked.

“My past”, Alyssa replied.


	10. Meeting future Doctors

Alyssa stepped out of the TARDIS and closed the door. “Sexy could you do me a favour? Keep this door locked until I get back”, she said to the box.

**_Of course sweetie_. **

“Thanks” Alyssa didn’t particularly trust that the Doctor wouldn’t try to follow her even though he promised that he wouldn’t. After all, he wasn’t really that happy that she wanted to talk to some stranger from her past on her own. Alyssa walked through the headstones towards her grandmother’s one.

As she walked she tried to think of things that she could say to the stranger but for some reason she found herself thinking about something she said to the Doctor. The reason why Caecilius’ bought the TARDIS.

_“Because he’s an idiot”, Alyssa stated “who’s bought a box. Now he’s an idiot with a…box”_

_Why would Caecilius buying the TARDIS trigger a ‘feeling’?_ She thought _unless the Scottish stranger was a future Doctor._ Alyssa nodded, if that was true then it would make sense for the ‘feeling’ to be triggered by Caecilius’ actions in buying the TARDIS in Pompeii. She’d have to use her abilities to know for sure if the stranger was indeed a future Doctor.

As she neared her grandmother’s grave, she heard her own voice talking. Alyssa hung back by a tree and watched as her slightly younger self spoke to the piece of carved granite. After a minute or two she stopped talking and just sat there staring at the headstone. Alyssa turned her head when she heard a noise of someone walking and saw the Scottish stranger. She stayed quiet as the man approached past-Ali knowing that she couldn’t talk to him until after he and past-Ali had spoken.

While the two talked Alyssa used her abilities to see if the Scottish stranger was a future Doctor. Her eyes widened when she’d sensed something very familiar. “It is you”, she breathed staring at him. She wondered which number he was as she knew _her_ Doctor was number 10. Alyssa also wondered if that Doctor came before or after the one who burst into her bedroom all those months ago. Another thought came into her head _I wonder if I’m still with him?_ It would be a comfort to know she was still with him in the future. However, she was very aware that she wouldn’t be able to stay with him forever seeing as that she was human.

Alyssa was brought out of her thoughts when the future Doctor walked away. She followed him and when they far enough away from past-Ali, she called out to him. “Doctor” the Time Lord stopped and turned around.

“Hello Ali” the twelfth Doctor took in her outfit before stating “you met Caecilius”.

Alyssa nodded “yes. Just come from there” she took several steps forward raised her hand and placed it gently on his cheek. The Doctor closed his eyes, leaning into her touch like he’d done so many times before.

“I must look like an old man in your eyes”, he said quietly, the words very similar to what she said to him on the Titanic after he’d told her how old he was.

“No, you don’t”, Alyssa said softly “You look like the Doctor to me” the Doctor opened his eyes to see that she was smiling at him. The Doctor closed his eyes, leaning into her touch like he’d done so many times before. When he opened his eyes, he saw that she was giving him a very familiar look. It was the same one he’d given her many times through his tenth and eleventh selves. It was love. He shouldn’t have been surprised by this younger Alyssa’s answer as she’d never looked at him any differently after the Master had aged him on the Valiant.

Alyssa removed her hand from his cheek. “I better go. Don’t want your younger self worrying”, she said.

“That would be a good idea”, the Doctor agreed knowing full well how his tenth self could be when it came to her safety. “Isn’t there something else you want to ask me?” he asked her when she turned away.

Alyssa turned back “I can’t think of anything”, she lied. She really wanted to ask if she was in his future but didn’t know if she was allowed to.

“Don’t you want to know if you’re still with me?” the Doctor asked.

“I do but I didn’t know if I was allowed to, seeing as you’d be telling me something about my personal future”, Alyssa said.

“You’re right. I’m not supposed to tell you about your future. But I will tell you this one thing just to reassure you. Yes, you are still with me”, the Doctor said.

“Thank you for telling me”, Alyssa said relieved to hear that they were still together through more than one regeneration. Speaking of… “There’s something else I’m wondering. That is if you’re allowed to tell me”.

“Ask away”, the Doctor said.

“What regeneration are you on?” Alyssa asked.

“12”, the Doctor replied.

Alyssa nodded “ok. Now I really better go before your tenth self tries to break down the TARDIS door”, she said.  

Twelve laughed “See you later, my brilliant Ali”, he said using her usual saying when it came to farewells.

“See you later, Spaceman”, Alyssa said pressing a light kiss to his cheek. She turned and quickly headed off. The Doctor watched Alyssa walk away feeling rather guilty. He hated the fact that he couldn’t tell her. Or at least prepare her for what was to come.  As much as it pained him, he had to let it play out the way it was supposed to.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day Alyssa went to the British Museum to drop off the painting the she’d finally finished repairing. She would’ve gotten it done sooner if a certain Time Lord hadn’t been distracting her. The said Time Lord was in a bit of a mood that morning as she’d refused point blank to tell him what happened when she spoke to his future self. Donna seemed to be more understanding when she’d explained why she couldn’t really tell them.

 _Note to self: get the Doctor a banana muffin when I’m done_ she thought as she lugged the painting towards the conversation room _that should cheer him up a little_. It would have to now she thought about it, as she hadn’t taken the Doctor off the kissing ban yet. She swiped her card on the reader next to the door and pushed open the door. Alyssa then carried the painting inside. The room was empty but then again she had come on a weekend so of course it would be. Alyssa took the painting to an empty easel and set it down. She then headed to the computer to fill out the proper forms and the drop Jenna an email stating that she’d dropped the painting off. When she reached the desk she was surprised to see a blue envelope sitting on the keyboard. It was addressed to her.

She opened it and pulled out a folded piece of paper. When she unfolded it, she saw that it was a short letter.

_Dear Ali_

_I have a question for you, it may sound a little strange but it’s something I have to know._

_Would you still love me if I was a woman?_

_Please write your answer on the page and leave the letter on the keyboard when you go._

_Doctor_

_XX_

Alyssa stared at the page “would you still love me if I love me if I was a woman?” she murmured. That was a rather strange question for the Doctor to be asking her. He _had_ shown her his past regenerations, all of whom were male but all looked differently. Could she love him if he turned into a woman? She had loved a girl but that was Ellie and it was only in a best friend/sisterly way. Alyssa sighed, it was a hard question to answer. On one hand, no she couldn’t love him if he became a woman as she wasn’t gay herself. On the other hand, if she could accept and love him for the two hearted, 903 year old alien that he is, then it shouldn’t matter if he changed into a woman.

 _Just be honest Ali_ she thought. She got a pen from the pot beside the computer and wrote her answer. Once she’d done that, she moved onto filling out the forms for the painting that she’d repaired. It didn’t take long to do those, roughly ten minutes. After the forms where completed, Alyssa dropped a brief email to Jenna to let her know that she’d brought back the painting and filled out the corresponding forms.

Alyssa was just heading to the door when all of a sudden there was a loud noise behind her which of course made her jump. She spun around and stared at the person who was standing there. It was the floppy haired Doctor she’d briefly met before, when he burst into her room several months ago. He looked a bit different from last time as he now had a red fez on his head. “Sorry for just dropping in like this. I hope I didn’t startle you”, he said apologetically.

“Oh you did, just a little”, Alyssa informed him feeling her heart start to get back to its normal rhythm after hearing that noise which signalled the arrival of the Doctor, whichever number he was.

“Sorry. Before you go asking me questions, I can’t really say anything and in all honesty I don’t really have time” the Doctor said “I came here to ask you for a favour”.

“What kind of favour?” Alyssa asked.

The Doctor pulled out a pamphlet for the British Museum and a yellow sticky note “I need you to write something on both of these”, he replied handing them to her.

Alyssa went to the desk and picked a black pen “no, it needs to be a red pen”. The red haired woman put the black pen back and selected a red pen.

“What do you want me to write?” Alyssa asked. The Doctor told her what to write _‘Come along Pond_ ’ on the back of the pamphlet and Alyssa did so. On the post-it she wrote _‘Stick around Pond’_. “Is there anything else you want me to write?”

“No. That’s it”, the Doctor replied removing the fez and sticking it on Alyssa’s head “thanks Ali. I’ll see you later”, he added giving her a wink. He then vanished in a flash of light taking the pamphlet and post-it note with him.

He appeared again a mere second later “actually I’m gonna take this back”, he said taking the fez and plonking it back on his head “and you were right by the way, fezzes are cool”.

“Please tell me there’s an ‘I told you so moment’”, Alyssa said rather hoping that there would be.

“Hasn’t happened yet but it’s very likely”, the Doctor said.

“I’m looking forward to it”, Alyssa said with a smile pleased that a future Doctor agreed with her opinion on the fez. The Doctor returned the smile and vanished again.

Alyssa hadn’t managed to take one step towards the door when the Time Lord appeared again. This time he did something that took her by surprise, he kissed her on the cheek. “I love you”, he said softly looking into her green eyes as he spoke. The Doctor stepped back and vanished for the third time after touching something on his wrist. Alyssa touched the cheek he kissed and a small smile crept onto her face.

The way he said ‘I love you’ made her seriously consider taking Ten off the ban as she wanted to go back to the TARDIS and give him a proper kiss and tell him how much she loved him. Alyssa stayed there a couple of minutes just in case the future Doctor came back. When he didn’t come back, she left the room making sure that it was secure.

Not long after she left, a blonde haired woman stepped out of the supply cupboard. She walked over to the desk with the computer on it and picked up the blue envelope. She took out the letter and unfolded it. A smile appeared on her face as she read Alyssa’s words on the bottom of the page. 


	11. The Sontaran Stratagem part 1

The moment Alyssa got back to her house, she dumped her bag in her room and grabbed some clean clothes so she could freshen up. She took her time having her shower enjoying the warm water over her skin. Eventually she got out, dried herself off and changed into her clean clothes. Alyssa was in middle of dragging a brush through her wet hair when she heard the very familiar noise of the TARIDS. She went over to the window and watched the blue box appear in the back garden. The door opened and the Doctor stepped out. Alyssa opened her window “hey Spaceman!” she called to him catching his attention. He looked up “I’ll be down in a moment”, she told him and closed the window.

Alyssa finished brushing her hair quickly and pulled it back into a messy bun knowing that she had a hairdryer in her room on the TARDIS. She tugged on her shoes and put on a jacket. She then grabbed her bag, hurried down stairs and out the back door making sure to lock it up behind her. She’d just managed to turn around when she was pulled into a hug. “Blimey I was only gone a few hours”, Alyssa commented.

“That’s too long”, the Doctor mumbled.

“I have some good news for you”, Alyssa said stepping out of his arms.

“What?” the Doctor asked.

Alyssa just leant in and softly kissed him. She drew back slightly to murmur “you’re off the kissing ban”. The Doctor stared at her hardly daring to believe what she just said.

“What?”

“I said you’re off the kissing ban”, she repeated. The Doctor grinned delighted at that fact. He cupped her face and kissed her deeply. Alyssa closed her eyes feeling the love the Doctor had for her. Eventually they broke apart when air became a little bit of an issue for Alyssa. She internally cursed that fact that she wasn’t able to keep going as long as the Doctor could due to having a _single_ respiratory system.

They gazed at each other until the moment was broken by Donna calling out “Come on love birds!” Alyssa looked over to see the ginger haired woman standing in the doorway of the TARDIS. The walked over to her, hand-in-hand. “I see he’s off the ban”, Donna remarked.

“Yep”, Alyssa said “so what did you two get up two while I was gone?”

“We went to the planet of the Ood”, Donna replied.  

“Shame I missed it”, Alyssa said.

“I’ll take you there sometime”, the Doctor promised.

“When you do go, you’re gonna want to wrap up really warm. It was freezing”, Donna informed her.

“I’ll make sure to do that”, Alyssa said.

“Well what are we going to do next?” Donna asked.

“How would you feel about learning to pilot the TARDIS?” the Doctor offered.

“Really?” Donna and Alyssa asked in unison both very surprised.

“Three people are better than two”, the Doctor informed them. Normally he wouldn’t have suggested it but he was in such a good mood after Alyssa gave him the news that he was no longer on the ban.

“He’s got a point”, Alyssa agreed although she was still a bit surprised that the Doctor of all people would offer to give lessons to Donna. She would’ve assumed it would be herself trying to convince the Doctor to allow Donna to have lessons, if the ginger woman ever asked for them.

“Are you being serious? You want to give me lessons?” Donna asked.

“Yep”, the Doctor replied popping the p.

“Ok where do we start?” Donna asked.

“The Doctor and I will take the TARDIS into the Vortex and then you can take over”, Alyssa replied. The Doctor nodded in agreement.

Donna clung onto the console watching the Doctor and Alyssa pilot the TARDIS into the vortex. “Ok, now it’s your turn”, Alyssa said. Donna moved over to where she was standing and her lesson began.

“I can’t believe I'm doing this!” Donna exclaimed happily as the piloted the TARDIS with Alyssa correcting her every so often while the Doctor watched on. He had started out being the one to show Donna how to pilot the TARDIS but when he used the mallet on the console, making the ship unhappy with him, Alyssa took over.

“Careful! You’re getting a bit too close to the 1980s”, the Doctor warned noticing that on the scanner.

“What am I going to do? Put a dent in ‘em?” Donna asked.

“Well, someone did”, the Doctor said. Alyssa burst out laughing at what the TARDIS told her “care to share Ali?” he asked, brow raised. 

“It was you”, Alyssa replied.

“What?” the Doctor asked.

“You put the dent in the 1980’s”, Alyssa said.

“I don’t remember that”, the Doctor said.

“Well Sexy told me”, Alyssa informed him “so I’m gonna say that its true”.

“She could be lying” the console zapped him “ow!”

“I don’t think she is. Now…” Alyssa broke off when they heard a phone ring. It was coming from her bag. She went over to where it was secured on the captain’s chair and dug through it. Alyssa smiled seeing the caller ID.

“Hey Ali”, Martha said when she answered.

“Hey. I know it’s been a while since we last spoke”, Alyssa said making her way back to the console.

“You’ve been busy having adventures, I understand. Anyway there was a reason a called. I’m bringing you and the Doctor back to Earth”.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Martha smiled when she saw the TARDIS appear precisely 5 minutes after Alyssa hung up. The exact amount of time that Alyssa said they would be there. The Doctor stuck his head out the door looked one way and then the other, smiling when he saw his former companion. “Martha Jones”, the Time Lord greeted.

“Doctor” the two of them hug as Alyssa stepped out of the TARDIS. Martha’s smiled grew when she spotted the red head after moving away from the Doctor. The two women hugged.

“It really good to see you. Again I’m sorry about not calling more often”, Alyssa said.

“You call each other?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah. It’s that little thing called staying in touch”, Alyssa told him.

Just then Donna stepped out of the TARDIS. “Right. Should have known. Didn't take you long to replace me, then Doctor”, Martha remarked when she noticed her.

“No one could ever replace you Martha Jones you’re one of a kind”, Alyssa said “Just like Donna Noble, the amazing super-temp”. Old and new companions shake hands politely.

“I’ve all about you. The Doctor doesn’t really mention you but Ali, talks about you all the time”, Donna said.

“Don’t worry it was all good things”, Alyssa assured her.

“Absolutely”, Donna agreed “Who's the lucky man?” she asked spotting the ring on Martha’s finger.

“You’re engaged? Who to?” Alyssa asked.

“Tom Milligan”, Martha replied.

“Isn’t that the name of the guy…?” Alyssa asked remembering Martha telling her about this man she met during the year-that-never-was.

“The same one”, Martha confirmed “He's in paediatrics. Working out in Africa right now. And yes, I know, I've got a doctor who disappears off to distant places. Tell me about it”.

“Is he skinny?” Donna asked.

“No, he's sort of…strong”, Martha replied.

“He is too skinny for words” Donna gestured to the Doctor “You give him a hug, you get a paper cut”

“Doesn’t bother me. I love him just the way he is”, Alyssa said stepping to the Doctor’s side and putting an arm around his waist.

“I love you just the way you are too”, the Doctor said dropping a kiss onto the top of her head and hugging her back. A small smile crept onto Martha’s face at the display of affection. Having been there at the very beginning of their relationship, which in all honesty probably wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for herself and Alyssa’s friend Steve, it was nice to see that it was still going strong. Martha was going to say something when she got a call over her walkie talkie.

“Doctor Jones, report to base, please. Over”

“This is Doctor Jones. Operation Blue Sky is go, go, go. I repeat, this is a go”, Martha said into the walkie talkie. The four follow Martha back down the alley where some sort of military operation was going on at a warehouse up ahead.

“What are you searching for?” the Doctor asked Martha as they watched the proceedings.

“Illegal aliens”, Martha answered.  

 _This is a UNIT operation. All workers lay down your tools and surrender immediately_ a voice called over the tannoy.

“B section mobilised. E section, F section, on my command”, Martha instructed into the walkie talkie before running off to join a group of soldiers.

“That’s not the Martha I know”, Alyssa murmured watching soldiers hold their guns on blue suited workers. _The year-that-never-was must’ve really affected her_ she thought. While the Doctor and herself where held on the Valiant, Martha was on her own wandering warzone that Earth had become when the Toclafane had been unleashed. Alyssa couldn’t imagine what she went through, what she saw. She really hoped that the Martha she knew, the Martha she became good friends with, wasn’t completely gone, replaced by this new Soldier Martha.

“Is that what you did to her? Turned her into a soldier?” Donna asked.

The Doctor didn’t say anything, just watched what was happening in front of them very uneasy.


	12. The Sontaran Stratagem part 2

“I guess congratulations are in order Doctor Jones”, Alyssa said when the woman came back to join them.

“Thank you”, Martha said “UNIT rushed it through, given my experience in the field. Here we go” the five of them started walking “We're establishing a field base on site. They're dying to meet you”.

“Wish I could say the same”, the Doctor said taking hold of Alyssa’s hand and making sure she was close to him as he didn’t feel at all that comfortable having her around with all these soldiers and guns. Alyssa squeezed his hand as she could feel how uncomfortable he was. They stepped inside the rear of a large truck that seemed to have been transformed into some kind of office.

“Operation Blue Sky complete, sir” Martha said walking towards a man in a uniform. “Thanks for letting me take the lead. And, this is the Doctor and Ali. Doctor, Ali, Colonel Mace”.

“Sir! Ma’am” Colonel Mace saluted them both. Alyssa was surprised she got a salute considering she didn’t think she’d be that important enough to get one, unlike the Doctor.

“Oh, don't salute”, the Doctor said annoyed.

“But it's an honour, sir. I've read all the files on you two”, Colonel Mace said.

“Wait, there’s a file on me? Why?” Alyssa asked, confused about that.

“You’re the Doctor’s companion and you have psychic abilities”, Colonel Mace stated.

“She’s much more than a companion now”, the Doctor pointed out hugging the red head close to him.

“That I am”, Alyssa agreed.

“I’ll be sure to update the files”, Colonel Mace said “Technically speaking sir, you're still on staff. You never resigned”.

“What, you used to work for them?” Donna asked.

“Yeah, long time ago. Back in the 70's. Or was it the 80's? But it was all a bit more homespun back then”, the Doctor replied.

“Times have changed, sir”, Colonel Mace informed him.

“Yeah, that's enough of the sir”, the Doctor said. He wasn’t big on people calling him ‘sir’ or saluting. He didn’t really like people saluting him. “But you best keep calling Ali ma’am I won…”

“No you don’t Colonel Mace”, Alyssa cut in “Alyssa or Ali is perfectly fine”.

“Come on, though, Doctor. You've seen it. You've been on board the Valiant. We've got massive funding from the United Nations, all in the name of Home World Security”, Martha explained.

“A modern UNIT for the modern world”, Colonel Mace added.

“What, and that means arresting ordinary factory workers, in the streets, in broad daylight? It's more like Guantanamo Bay out there”, Donna remarked “Donna, by the way. Donna Noble, since you didn't ask. I'll have a salute”.

Colonel Mace looked at the Doctor and Alyssa who nodded. The uniformed man saluted Donna who look rather pleased. “Ma'am”

“Thank you”, Donna said, pleased.

“Tell me, what's going on in that factory?” the Doctor asked Colonel Mace.

“Yesterday, 52 people died in identical circumstances, right across the world, in 11 different time zones. 5 am in the UK, 6 am in France, 8 am in Moscow, 1 pm in China”, Colonel Mace explained.

“Meaning they died simultaneously”, Alyssa stated.

Colonel Mace nodded “Exactly. 52 deaths at the exact same moment, worldwide”, he said.

“How did they die?” the Doctor asked.

“They were all inside their cars”, Colonel Mace replied.

“They were poisoned”, Martha added “I checked the biopsies. No toxins. Whatever it is, left the system immediately”.

“What have the cars got in common?” the Doctor asked.

“Completely different makes. They're all fitted with ATMOS, and that is the ATMOS factory”, Martha answered.

“What's ATMOS?” the Doctor questioned.

“Oh, come on. Even I know that. Everyone's got ATMOS”, Donna said.

 _I don’t. Neither does my mother_ Alyssa thought recalling that day she stopped by her house, pre meeting Donna, and Tasha was there trying to convince Sarah to get ATMOS. In the middle of her pitch, Alyssa had got a ‘feeling’. Putting it down to ATMOS, she flat out refused to put one in her car. And when she’d explained to her mother about the ‘feeling’, Sarah had decided not to get it either. If ATMOS was the reason behind those 52 deaths then it was a very good thing that neither mother nor daughter decided to have ATMOS installed.

Martha led the Doctor, Donna and Alyssa down the catwalk stationed over the factory floor all the while explaining what ATMOS was “Stands for Atmospheric Omission System. Fit ATMOS in your car, it reduces CO2 emissions to zero”.

“Zero?!”  The Doctor asked very surprised “No carbon, none at all?”

“And you get sat-nav and twenty quid in shopping vouchers if you introduce a friend. Bargain”, Donna put in.

Colonel Mace stopped on the catwalk and looked down at the factory floor where the soldiers were still rounding up the workers “And this is where they make it, Doctor. Shipping worldwide. Seventeen factories across the globe, but this is the central depot, sending ATMOS to every country on Earth”

“And you think ATMOS is alien”, the Doctor stated.

“It's our job to investigate that possibility”, Colonel Mace said “Doctor?”

Colonel Mace led the way through the warehouse and into a slightly smaller room where the ATMOS devices where set up “And here it is, laid bare. ATMOS can be threaded through any and every make of car”

“This may be a silly thing to ask but did you check ATMOS before it went on sale, to make sure it was safe?” Alyssa asked.

“We did”, Martha told her “We found nothing. That's why I thought we needed an expert”.

“Really. Who’d you get?” the Doctor asked. Martha doesn’t answer him, just looks at him meaningfully so does Donna and Colonel Mace. “Oh, right! Me!” the Doctor said realising they meant _him_ “yes. Good”.

Alyssa shook her head fondly. Although she loved him, he was a bit oblivious at times. Martha and Colonel Mace left the trio to it while they checked on how things were going on in the factory. 

“Okay. So why would aliens be so keen on cleaning up our atmosphere?” Donna asked.

“A very good question”, the Doctor said looking over the ATMOS device.

“Maybe they want to help. Get rid of pollution and stuff”, the Ginger woman suggested.

“I don’t think so Donna”, Alyssa said staring at the device “I don’t think they want to help, quite the opposite”.

“You think they want to harm the planet? Using our cars?” Donna asked sarcastically.

“It would be possible”, the Doctor agreed “there are 800 million cars on planet Earth. Fit each one with ATMOS and you have 800 million weapons”.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A little while later…

Alyssa stood by the Doctor as he examined ATMOS’s components. “Ionising nano-membrane carbon dioxide converter. Which means that ATMOS works. Filters the CO2 at a molecular level”, the Time Lord told them.

“We know all that, but what's its origin? Is it alien?” Colonel Mace asked.

“No. Decades ahead of its time”, the Doctor replied. He eyed Colonel Mace, more specifically his gun. It was in close proximity to Alyssa which he didn’t like at all. “Look, do you mind? Could you stand back a bit?” he requested. The man moved a back a little “bit more than that”, the Doctor said.

Colonel Mace complied before asking “Have I done something wrong?”

“You're carrying a gun. My girlfriend is in the room. I don’t like people with guns hanging around her, all right?” Alyssa raised her eyebrows at his protectiveness, he’d never done anything like that before. Well, there were times in past adventures where the Doctor was rather protective…possibly a bit too protective of her but that had been against aliens, not humans.

“If you insist”, the man said and then leaves, rather offended by what Doctor said.

“Tetchy”, Martha commented although she could understand why the Time Lord was being protective. He loved Alyssa and wanted to keep her safe.

“Well, it's true”, the Doctor said.

“He's a good man”, Martha said defending Colonel Mace.

“People with guns are usually the enemy in my books”, the Doctor countered “You seem quite at home”, he added.

“If anyone got me used to fighting, it's you”, Martha shot back.

“Oh right, so it's my fault”, the Doctor argued.

“Well, you got me the job”, Martha pointed out “Besides, look at me. Am I carrying a gun?”

The Doctor looked her over and saw that she wasn’t carrying one which made him relax slightly “Suppose not”, he conceded.  

“It’s all right for you two. You can just come and go, but some of us have got to stay behind”, Martha said “So I've got to work from the inside, and by staying inside, maybe I stand a chance of making them better”.

“That’s more the Martha I know”, Alyssa said with a smile glad that her friend hadn’t completely changed.

“I learned from the best”, Martha said.  

“Well…” the Doctor began.

“Thanks Ali”, Martha said putting an arm around the red head.

“Hey!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“Ok, you had a little influence on me”, Martha admitted.

“Like how to ramble at hundred miles per hour?” Alyssa offered.

“Yep”, Martha agreed.

“I thought you loved it when I ramble”, the Doctor said.

“I do love it”, Alyssa assured him “it’s one of the things I love about you”.

“What else do you love about me?” the Doctor asked.

“Plenty of things”, Alyssa replied. She took his hands “I love your hands, they just seem to fit so well with mine. I love your arms, they make me feel safe whenever you hold me” Alyssa let go of one of his hands to place her hand on his cheek “I love your eyes, they’re warm. Sometimes they’re full of love and it makes me feel like I’m the luckiest woman in the universe. Because I know that love is for me” she smiled softly “I love your lips. Whenever you kiss me it feels like everything just falls away. The whole world disappears leaving only the two of us”.

“That’s exactly how I feel”, the Doctor agreed before he kissed her. Martha looked away from the rather intimate moment happening in front of her. They were still going when Donna walked in carrying a folder. She waited for about a minute before announcing her presence to the oblivious couple “oi love birds”, she said and the pair broke apart “All your storm troopers and your sonics” Donna continued ignoring the slightly flushed faces of both the Doctor and Alyssa “You're rubbish. Should've come with me”.

“Why, where have you been?” the Doctor asked.

“Personnel”, Donna replied “That's where the weird stuff's happening, in the paperwork. Because I spent years working as a temp, I can find my way round an office blindfolded, and the first thing I noticed is an empty file”.

“Why, what's inside it? Or what's not inside it?” Alyssa asked.

Donna held the file up “Sick days. There aren't any. Hundreds of people working here and no one's sick. Not one hangover, man flu, sneaky little shopping trip, nothing. Not ever. They don't get ill”

“That can't be right”, Colonel Mace said frowning.

“You've been checking out the building. Should've been checking out the workforce”, Donna told him.

“I can see why he likes you”, Martha told Donna.

“Mmm hmm”, Donna hummed in agreement.

“You are good”, Martha said.

“Super temp!” Donna said.

“Told you”, Alyssa said happy that Donna finally saw that too.

“Doctor Jones, set up a medical post. Start examining the workers”, Colonel Mace ordered Martha who nodded “I'll get them sent through”.

“Come on, Donna. Give me a hand”. She and Donna left the room.

Colonel Mace also left, rather quickly leaving Alyssa and the Doctor to hurry after him. “So this, this ATMOS thing. Where'd it come from?” the Doctor asked having caught up with the man.

“Luke Rattigan himself”, Colonel Mace replied.

“And he is?” Alyssa asked.

In answer to her question, Mace took them back to the mobile office and showed them Luke’s file “Child genius. Invented the Fountain 6 search engine when he was twelve years old. Millionaire overnight. Now runs the Rattigan Academy. A private school, educating students handpicked from all over the world”, the man explained.

“A hothouse for geniuses”, the Doctor commented.

“You’d fit right in then”, Alyssa said “My clever spaceman”.

“So would you. My brilliant Ali”, the Doctor countered earning a blush from the red head.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You are not coming with us. I want to talk to this Luke Rattigan, not point a gun at him”, the Doctor as they walked through the factory.

“It's 10 miles outside London. How are you going to get there?” Colonel Mace asked.

“Well then, get me a jeep”, the Doctor said.

“According to the records you travel by TARDIS”, Colonel Mace said.

“Yeah, but if there is a danger of hostile aliens, I think it's best to keep a super-duper time machine away from the front lines”, the Doctor said.

“I see. Then you do have weapons, but you choose to keep them hidden”, Colonel Mace said.

“Sexy is _not_ a weapon”, Alyssa said coming to the defence of the box “nor will she ever be. And if you want to try and make her a weapon, you’ll have to go through me first”. She gave the man a glare, showing him that she meant it.

“Ok, the TARDIS stays put”, Colonel Mace said. He felt guilty for calling the box a weapon especially when Alyssa had gotten offended him calling it as such. “Jenkins?”

“Sir”, Jenkins said coming over.

“You will accompany the Doctor and Alyssa, take orders from them”. Jenkins nodded and left to go find transport.

“Yeah, I don't do orders”, the Doctor said.

“Me neither”, Alyssa agreed.

“Any sign of trouble, get Jenkins to declare a Code Red. And good luck, sir, ma’am”, Colonel Mace told them.

“I said no salutes”, the Doctor said after Mace did just that.

“Now you're giving orders”, the Colonel said smirking.

“That was a bit cheeky”, Alyssa remarked after the man left.

“Yep”, the Doctor agreed.

A moment later Donna appeared “Oh, just in time! Come on! Come on, we're going to the country. Fresh air and geniuses, what more could you ask?” the Doctor said.

“I'm not coming with you. I've been thinking. I'm sorry. I'm going home”, Donna said.

“Really?” the Doctor asked slightly disappointed.

“I've got to”, Donna told him.

“Oh, if that's what you want. I mean, it's a bit soon”, the Doctor said “I had so many places I had wanted to take you. The Fifteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade, the Lightning Skies of Cotter Palluni's World, Diamond Coral Reefs of Kataa Flo Ko…Thank you. Thank you, Donna Noble, it's been brilliant”.  

“Penny in the air”, Alyssa muttered seeing the growing smile on Donna’s face as the Doctor rambled. She knew Donna wasn’t going home for good.

“…you've, you've saved my life in so many ways. You're…” it then just hit the Doctor what she meant “you're just popping home for a visit, that's what you mean”.

“And the penny drops”, Alyssa cheered.

“You dumbo”, Donna said shaking her head.

“And then you're coming back”, the Doctor said.

“Know what you are? A great big outer space dunce” Donna turned to Alyssa “maybe that could be his new nickname”, she suggested.

“Mmm….I think I’ll just stick to Spaceman”, Alyssa said.

“Ready when you are!” Jenkins called as he pulled up with a jeep. The three of them get into the vehicle. It was long before they dropped off Donna at a road junction before heading off to Rattigan Academy.


	13. The Sontaran Stratagem part 3

“UNIT's been watching Rattigan Academy for ages. It's all a bit Hitler Youth: exercise at dawn and classes and special diets”, Ross Jenkins explained as he drove.

_Turn left_

“Ross, one question. If UNIT think that ATMOS is dodgy…” the Doctor began.

_Go straight on_

“How come we've got it in the jeeps?” Ross asked “Yeah, tell me about it. They're fitted as standard on all government vehicles. We can't get rid of them till we can prove there's something wrong”.

_Turn right_

“Drives me around the bend”, Ross told them.

“Nice one”, Alyssa remarked as Ross turned the corner just as he said those words.

“Timed that perfectly!” Ross said.

“Yeah! Yeah, you did”, the Doctor agreed.

_This is you final destination_

Alyssa didn’t bother waiting for the jeep to come to a complete stop before she got out. She was just pretty eager to get some distance between herself and the vehicle containing ATMOS.

“Is it PE?” the Doctor asked as he, Ross and Alyssa approaching a young man who was watching a group of people jog past “I wouldn't mind a kick around, I've got me daps on”.

“I suppose you're the Doctor?” the young man, Luke Rattigan asked.

“Hello!” the Doctor said cheerfully.  

“Your commanding officer phoned ahead”, Luke said.

“Ah, but I haven't got a commanding officer. Have you?” the Doctor asked. Luke stared darkly at him “Oh, this is Ross and Alyssa. Say hello, you two”.

“Hi”, Alyssa greeted.

“Good afternoon, sir”, Ross said.

The Doctor took Alyssa’s hand rushes off to the entrance. “Let's have a look, then. I can smell genius...in a good way”, he said happily.

Luke rolls his eyes behind the Doctor’s back as he followed the couple into a room full of students performing experiments. “Oh, now! That's clever, look!” he put on his glasses and peered at a device “Single molecule fabric, how thin is that?! You could pack a tent in a thimble. Ooo! Gravity simulators” the Doctor started rushing around in excitement, taking Alyssa with him to show her all the amazing things “Terraforming, biospheres, nano-tech steel constructs! This is brilliant!” Alyssa giggled at his enthusiasm which was coming off him in waves. It was kinda making her feel like a child at Christmas. “Do you know, with equipment like this you could…ooo, I don't know, move to another planet or something?”

“If only that was possible”, Luke said.

“If only that _were_ possible”, Alyssa corrected him “Conditional clause”.

“I think you'd better come with me”, Luke said walking off. The Doctor, Alyssa and Ross followed him into a large room where a strange device sat in the far end of the room. “You're smarter than the usual UNIT grunts, I'll give you that”, Luke remarked.

“He called you a grunt!” the Doctor said to Ross “Don't call Ross a grunt, he's nice! We like Ross”.

“Yes we do”, Alyssa agreed.

“Look at this place…” the Doctor wandered off.

“What exactly do you want?” Luke asked exasperated.

“I was just thinking. What a responsible eighteen year old. Inventing zero carbon cars? Saving the world…”

“Takes a man with vision”, Luke said.

“A blinkered vision more like”, Alyssa said “Because ATMOS means more people driving. More cars, more petrol. End result, the oil's going to run out faster than ever. The ATMOS system could make things worse”.

Luke took no time at all to point out her mistake “Yeah. Well, you see, that's a tautology. You can't say ‘ATMOS system’ because it stands for ‘Atmospheric Emissions System’. So you're just saying Atmospheric Emissions System system. Do you see, little miss Conditional Clause?”

“It's been a long time since anyone said no to you, isn't it?” the Doctor asked coming to Alyssa’s defence.

“I'm still right, though”, Luke insisted.

“Not easy, is it, being clever. You look at the world and you connect things, random things, and think, why can't anyone else see it? The rest of the world is so slow”, the Doctor said coming to stand by Alyssa’s side.

“Yeah”, Luke agreed as the Doctor was spot on.

“And you're all on your own”, the Doctor continued.

“I know”, Luke said.

“But not with this” the Doctor pulled out the ATMOS device from his pocket noting the way Alyssa moved away eyeing the device in his hand warily “Because there's no way you invented this thing single handed. I mean, it might be Earth technology, but that's like finding a mobile phone in the Middle Ages” he chucked the device to Ross, who just about catches it “No, no, I'll tell you what it's like! It's like finding this in the middle of someone's front room” he points at the device on the other side of the room “Albeit it's a very big front room”.

“Why, what is it?” Ross asked.

“Yeah, just looks like a thing, doesn't it? People don't question things. They just say, oh, it's a thing”, the Doctor said.

“Leave it alone!” Luke ordered.  

The Doctor just ignored him and walked over to the device “Me, I make these connections” he stepped inside “And this, to me, looks like a teleport pod” he pushes a button and before the eyes of everyone, he vanished.

“Where did he go?” Alyssa asked Luke sensing his worry the second the Doctor had gone.

“I…”

“Where did he go?” she repeated. Before Luke could say anything the Doctor appeared running out of the teleport pod. He grabbed Alyssa’s hand needing to get her to safety.

“Ross, get out!” the Doctor shouted “Luke, you've got to come with me”.

“Uh Doctor?” Alyssa said seeing a short figure in blue armor appear in the teleport. The Doctor turned and quickly flashed his sonic at the teleport pod, disabling it.

“Sontaran!” the Doctor blurted out wanting to distract the alien from attacking them. He knew that Ross would try to stop it with his gun, but of course that would be ineffective. Then Alyssa would try with her powers and that was something he didn’t want her to do, knowing how much it hurt her every time she used them. “That's your name, isn't it? You're a Sontaran. How did I know that, hey? Fascinating isn't it? Isn't that worth keeping me alive?”

“I order you to surrender in the name of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce”, Ross said raising his gun and pointing it at the Sontaran.

“Well that's not going to work. Cordolaine signal, am I right? Copper excitation stopping the bullets”, the Doctor said.

“How do you know so much?” the Sontaran asked.

“Well…”

“Who is he?” the Sontaran asked Luke. _They’re in it together_ Alyssa thought taking note of the interaction.

“He didn't give his name”, Luke replied.

“But this isn't typical Sontaran behaviour, is it? Hiding? Using teenagers, stopping bullets? A Sontaran should face bullets with dignity. Shame on you”, the Doctor said mockingly leaning against a desk.

“You dishonour me, sir”, the Sontaran said.

“Yeah? Then show yourself”, The Doctor challenged.

“I will look into my enemy's eyes!” the Sontaran said. Ross and Alyssa’s widened as the alien took off its helmet revealing its potato like head.

“Oh, my God…” Ross breathed gaping at the alien.

“And your name?” the Doctor asked.

“General Staal, of the Tenth Sontaran Fleet. Staal the Undefeated”, the Sontaran answered.

Alyssa raised an eye brow “bit of a mouthful”, she commented.

“Oh, that's not a very good nickname. What if you do get defeated? Staal the Not Quite So Undefeated Anymore But Never Mind?” the Doctor said getting a laugh from Alyssa.

“He's like a potato. A baked potato. A talking baked potato”, Ross said staring at Staal.

“Now, Ross, don't be rude. You look like a pink weasel to him” the Doctor said moving over to a chair where a racket and ball sat, picking them up “The Sontarans are the finest soldiers in the galaxy, dedicated to a life of warfare. A clone race, grown in batches of millions with only one weakness”.

“Sontarans have no weakness!” Staal said.

“No, it's a good weakness”, the Doctor insisted.

“Aren't you meant to be clever? Only an idiot would provoke him”, Luke said.

“No, but the Sontarans are fed by a probic vent in the back of their neck. That's their weak spot. Which means, they always have to face their enemies in battle”, the Doctor explained.

“They can never turn their backs”, Alyssa added now realising why he picked up the racquet and ball.

“We stare into the face of death”, Staal said proudly.

“Yeah? Well, stare at this!” the Doctor throws the ball up into the air and hits it with the racquet. The ball flies past Staal, hits the back of the teleport pod and bounces back smacking the Sontaran’s probic vent. The Doctor then drops the racquet, grabs Alyssa’s hand and they race out of there, Ross quickly following after them.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Greyhound 40 to Trap 1. Repeat, can you hear me? Over”, the Doctor said into the radio but he got no response.

“Why's it not working?” Ross asked.

“It must be the Sontarans. If they can trace that, they can isolate the ATMOS”, the Doctor said.

_Turn left_

“Try going right”, the Doctor suggested.

“It said left”, Ross said.

“I know. So go right”, the Doctor said. Ross tried to do so but he couldn’t.

“I've got no control. It's driving itself. It won't stop”, Ross said.

“The doors are locked!” Alyssa exclaimed as she tried hers.

“Ah, it's deadlocked. I can't stop it!” the Doctor said after trying to use the sonic on the ATMOS.

_Turn left_

The jeep jolts and swerves to the left. “The sat-nav's just a box, wired through the whole car!” he added.

“We're headed for the river!” Ross shouted seeing where they were going.

“What do we do?” Alyssa asked worriedly.

“ATMOS, are you programmed to contradict my orders?” the Doctor asked.

_Confirmed_

“Anything I say, you'll ignore it?” he questioned.

_Confirmed_

“Then drive into the river! I order you to drive into the river! Do it. Drive into the river!” the Doctor ordered.

The jeep skidded to a stop several inches from the water’s edge. The trio get out of the jeep and start running for their lives.

_Turn right…left...right…left…_

“Get down!” the Doctor shouted pulling Alyssa to the ground, covered her body with his and braced himself for the inevitable explosion.

_Left, right, left, right, left, left, right, left, right_

The sat-nav emits a small bang that sets off a shower of sparks. The Doctor looked up, disappointed “Oh, was that it?” he asked.

“I’m just glad there wasn’t a massive explosion”, Alyssa said making him look down at her.

“You know, this is a very familiar postion we’re in”, the Doctor said making Alyssa blush.

“There’s a time and place. And that’s not now”, she told him.

“Later?” the Doctor asked rather hopeful.

“Absolutely”, Alyssa said. The Doctor beamed and kissed her soundly.


	14. Poison Sky part 1

The Doctor examined the Nobles’ car, bending down to check the ATMOS attached underneath. He Alyssa and Ross headed straight for the Nobles house after narrowly escaping being driven into the river. Well not straight away, the couple had gotten carried away kissing each other. If it hadn’t been for Ross getting their attention and reminding them of the current danger, they would’ve forgotten all about it.

“I'll requisition us a vehicle”, Ross told the Doctor who was now examining under the hood of the car.

“Anything without ATMOS. And don't point your gun at people!” Ross gave a small salute and ran off.

“Considering you don’t like giving orders, that was the second one you gave today”, Alyssa said from where she stood at a relatively safe distance from the car. The Doctor looked up from where he was working, noting how far she was from the vehicle.

“I don’t like giving orders _most_ of the time”, he amended. He understood why she didn’t want to be anywhere near the car as the last one fitted the ATMOS tried to kill them.

“Is it them?” a familiar voice called. Alyssa looked over to see Donna’s grandfather come out of the house.

“It’s you”, she said recognising him from last Christmas.

“And its you”, Donna’s grandfather said happily seeing Alyssa “Alyssa Palmer, right?”

“Yep that’s me”, Alyssa confirmed.

“You two have met before?” Donna asked coming over after trying to call Martha and having no luck.

“Yeah, Christmas Eve. This young lady here and the Doctor disappeared right in front of me”, Wilf explained.

“And you never said?!” Donna exclaimed.

“Well, you never said”, Wilf countered “Wilf, ma’am. Wilfred Mott”

“Pleasure to meet you properly Wilf”, Alyssa said shaking his hand.

“Is the Doctor here?” Wilf asked.

“Yep”, Alyssa replied gesturing to the car. Wilf went over and the two males had a brief talk where Wilf introduced himself again.

“Donna, anything?” the Doctor asked coming over with Wilf.

“She's not answering. What is it, Sontorans?” Donna said with the phone to her ear.

“Sontarans”, Alyssa corrected a little worried that her friend wasn’t answering the phone.

“But there's got to be more to it. They can't be just remote controlling cars. That's not enough”, the Doctor “Is anyone answering?”

“Hold on”, Donna said as she heard the line click.

“Don't tell me…Donna Noble”, Martha’s voice said coming through the phone.

“Martha!” Donna said relieved to hear her voice “Hold on, he's here” she handed the phone over to the Doctor.

“Martha, tell Colonel Mace it's the Sontarans”, the Doctor instructed “They’re in the file. Code Red, Sontarans. But if they're inside the factory tell them not to start shooting. UNIT will get massacred. I'll get back as soon as I can, you got that?”

“Code Red Sontaran. Gotcha”, Martha repeated and hung up.

After talking to Martha the Doctor went back to examining the car engine “But you tried sonicing it before. You didn't find anything”, Donna pointed out.

“Yeah, but now I know it's Sontaran, I know what I'm looking for”

“The thing is, Doctor, Donna is my only grandchild. You got to promise me you're going to take care of her”, Wilf said to the Time Lord.

“Actually she takes care of me”, the Doctor admitted.

“We take care of each other”, Alyssa added putting an arm around Donna “besides us gingers/red heads have to stick together”.

“Absolutely. Gingers/red heads United”, Donna agreed.

“That would be a pretty cool club. No other hair colour allowed”, Alyssa said.

“Oi! It’s not my fault I haven’t been ginger yet”, the Doctor whined.

“He’s adorable when he does that isn’t he Donna?” Alyssa asked.

“I suppose he is”, Donna said .The women laughed at the look on his face.

“Aw come on, we were just teasing”, Alyssa said going over to the Doctor “you know I love you, right?” she kissed his cheek “my spaceman”.

The Doctor looked at her, his annoyance at them teasing was gone. He leaned in and kissed her too, on the lips “I love you too, my brilliant Ali”. The pair smiled at each other.

Suddenly shot up from the ATMOS device making them both jump. The Doctor quickly pulled her away from it “It's a temporal pocket. I knew there was something else in there. It's hidden just a second out of sync with real time”, he explained.

“What's it hiding?” Alyssa asked.

Donna’s mother appeared around the car “I don't know, men and their cars. Sometimes I think if I was a car….” she trailed off when she saw the Doctor and Alyssa “Oh, it's two. Ali and Doctor what was it?”

“Yeah, that's us”, the Doctor said waving at her distractedly.

“What, have you met him as well?” Wilf asked his daughter.

“Dad, it's the couple from the wedding! When you were laid up with Spanish flu. I'm warning you, last time that they turned up it was a disaster!” Donna’s mother exclaimed.

Alyssa opened her mouth to defend them when the spikes from the ATMOS device started to let off a cloud of white gas. “Get back!” the Doctor called tugging Alyssa away from it even more. He pulled out his sonic and used it on the ATMOS device. Thankfully the sonic managed to shut off the gas, “That'll stop it”

“I told you. He's blown up the car!. Who is he, anyway? What sort of doctor blows up cars?” Donna’s mother demanded.

“Oh, not now, Mum!” Donna complained.

“Oh, should I make an appointment?” when no one answered her, she stormed off back to the house.

“That wasn't just exhaust fumes…some sort of gas. Artificial gas”, the Doctor said.

“And it's aliens, is it? Aliens?” Wilf asked.

“But if…it's poisonous…then they've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth”, the Doctor replied.

At those words Wilf decided to get the car off the street “It's not safe. I'm going to get it off the street” the car doors suddenly slam shut and all the locks click into place. The car turns on and smoke begins to pour from the exhaust pipe.

“Hold on! Turn it off. Granddad, get out of there!” Donna shouted.

“I can't! It's not locked! It's them aliens again!” Wilf shouted back. Donna pulls at the car door, growing more frantic as fumes began to seep into the car.

“What's he doing? What's he done?” Sylvia, Donna’s mother exclaimed.

“They've activated it!” the Doctor said.

“There's gas inside the car! He's going to choke! Doctor!” Donna cried.

The Doctor rushed around and tries to sonic the door “It won't open!” he turned and looked at the street. Every car is spitting out poisonous fumes into the atmosphere “It's the whole world…”

“Help me”, Wilf gasped.

“Oh stupid Ali!” she said reprimanding herself as she remembered that she had powers. She’d forgotten all about them in the panic. “Wilf duck!” she shouted at Wilf. The moment the man ducked down, she raised her hand focusing on the windscreen. 

She winced as the glass smashed. Now that they had a way to get Wilf out, the Doctor and Donna hauled him out of the car. “Thanks”, Wilf gasped.

“You’re welcome”, Alyssa said rubbing her head.

“Get inside the house. Just try and close off the doors and windows”, the Doctor instructed them.

A moment later Ross pulled up in a black taxi. The Doctor, Alyssa and Donna got in and soon they were on their way back to the warehouse.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The air is disgusting”, Donna coughed as they reached the TARDIS.

“It's not so bad for me”, the Doctor said with a shrug.  

“Good for you”, Alyssa said also coughing from the gas.

“Go on, get inside the TARDIS, both of you” the Doctor said knowing that they would be safe from the gas inside the box “Oh, I've never given you a key!” he added pulling one of from his pocket “Keep that. Go on, that's yours. Quite a big moment really”.

Donna took it “Yeah, maybe we can get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death”, she said sarcastically.

“Good idea”, the Doctor agreed.  

“Where are you going?” Alyssa asked him.

“To stop a war”, he replied running off. Alyssa unlocks the TARDIS and steps inside with Donna. Immediately both women took deep breaths of clean air.

“Much better”, Alyssa sighed.

“Yeah, definitely”, Donna agreed going over to the captain’s chair and sitting down.

“I guess congratulations are in order in getting your TARDIS key”, Alyssa said sitting next to her.

“Thanks”, Donna said.

Alyssa opened her mouth to say something when the TARDIS shook “Sexy what happened?” she asked.

**_We’ve been teleported._ **

“Teleported where?” Alyssa questioned.

 ** _The Sontaran ship_ **Alyssa’s eyes widened at that.

“Oh”, she said.

“Ali? What’s wrong?” Donna asked seeing her expression.

“We’re on board the Sontaran ship”, Alyssa replied.

“Are we safe in here?” Donna questioned looking at the doors.

“Don’t worry. The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn’t get through those doors”, Alyssa assured her.

“So what do we do now?” Donna asked.

“We wait”, Alyssa answered.

“That’s it?” Donna asked staring at her in disbelief.

“I’m afraid so”, Alyssa said.

“Surely you could figure something out other than waiting, you are brilliant after all”

“While that is true in some respects, I am out of my depth on this one”, Alyssa confessed. She didn’t like to just wait around either but what could she and Donna do? They were trapped on the Sontaran ship!

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The women had no idea how long they were sitting there when the Doctor’s voice came through the scanner. Alyssa and Donna got up and went over to it “This is the Doctor”

“Doctor, we’re here. Can you hear us?” Donna asked seeing him sit there with Mace behind him.

“I don’t think he can. I think he’s broadcasting to the ship and we’re on board so…” Alyssa began.

“We’re picking it up too”, Donna finished.

“Exactly”, Alyssa agreed.

“Doctor, breathing your last?” Staal’s voice came through the screen.

“My God, they're like trolls”, Mace gaped.

“Yeah, loving the diplomacy, thanks. So, tell me, General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards?”

“How dare you!” Staal cried.

“Oh, that's diplomacy?” Colonel Mace remarked quietly.

“Doctor, you impugn my honour”, Staal said offended.

“Good thing he didn’t say belittle. The Doctor would have a field day with that”, Alyssa remarked.

“How did you know he was going to say that?” Donna asked as the Doctor repeated what Alyssa had just said almost word for word. She knew Alyssa couldn’t see the future, it wasn’t one of her psychic abilities.

“I didn’t. I just know him Donna”, Alyssa said.

“…but poison gas? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it. Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky and yet you're sitting up above watching it die. Where's the fight in that? Where's the honour? Or are you lot planning something else, because this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to?”

“A general would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces”, Staal pointed out.

“Ah, the war's not going so well, then. Losing, are we?” the Doctor asked.

“What war is he talking about?” Donna asked and Alyssa shrugged. She didn’t know what the Doctor was talking about.

“Such a suggestion is impossible”, Staal scoffed.

“What war?” Colonel Mace asked.

“The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans. It's been raging, far out in the stars, for 50,000 years”, the Doctor explained “50,000 years of bloodshed, and for what?”

“For victory”, Staal replied “Sontar-ha!” he cheered.

Donna and Alyssa listened as more voices started chanting ‘Sontar-ha’.

The Doctor rolled his eyes “Give me a break”, he said pulling out his sonic. The scanner screen turned static.

“What happened?” Donna asked.

“He cut the connection. Probably to shut them up”, Alyssa replied “it’s what I would do”.

A minute later the screen flickered on “Finished?” the Doctor asked.

“You will not be so quick to ridicule when you'll see our prize. Behold. We are the first Sontarans in history to capture a TARDIS”, Staal said.

“Well, as prizes go, that's… _brilliant_ ”, the Doctor remarked.

“He’s talking about you”, Donna said.

“As they say in Latin, _Donna_ nobis pacem”, the Doctor added.

“He knows we can see this”, Alyssa said happily. Hopefully that meant he would tell them what to do.

“Did you never wonder about its design? It's a phone box. It contains a phone. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like, if only we could communicate, you and I”, the Doctor continued.

Alyssa’s eyes widened and she dug in her pocket for her phone “All you have communicated is your distress, Doctor”, Staal said.

“Big mistake though, showing it to me…” the Doctor began.

“He wants to phone someone. But who?” Donna asked as Alyssa pulled out her phone.

“Because I've got remote control”, the Time Lord finished.

“Cease transmission!” Staal ordered and the screen went black.

“He wants us to call him”, Alyssa stated.

“Does he even have a phone?” Donna asked.

“Yep”, Alyssa replied.

“Then please tell me you have his number”, Donna said.

Alyssa looked up from her phone “Donna do you really think I wouldn’t have my own _boyfriend’s_ number?”

“Good point”, Donna conceded.

Alyssa was about to hit the dial button on her phone, the TARDIS shook again this time both of them where knocked to the floor. “Are we being teleported again?” Donna asked.

**_No, I’m being physically moved_ **

Alyssa relayed that information to Donna. When the shaking stopped, the pair got to their feet. Alyssa rung the Doctor before anything else happened. As it connected she stuck it on speaker so Donna could hear as well “Doctor what's happened, were are you?” Donna asked when the Time Lord picked up.

“Still on Earth. But don't worry, I've got my secret weapons”, the Doctor said.

“What's that?” Donna asked.

“Us”, Alyssa replied “you do mean us right?”

“Yes”, the Doctor confirmed.

“Oh. Somehow that's not making me happy”, Donna said “Can't you just zap us down to Earth with that remote thing?”

“Yeah, I haven't got a remote, though I really should. I need you on that ship. That's why I made them move the TARDIS”, the Doctor said “I'm sorry but you've both got to go outside”.

“But there's Sonteruns out there”, Donna reminded them.

“Sontarans”, the Doctor and Alyssa corrected her.

“But they'll all be on battle stations right now. They don't exactly walk about having coffee. I can talk you through it”

“But what if they find us?” Donna asked worried.

“If they do, I will protect you. If I’m able to stop Miss Foster’s guards from killing us, I can stop a few potato heads”, Alyssa assured.

Donna couldn’t help but smile, slightly reassured by her words “What do you need us to do?” she asked.

“The Sontarans are inside the factory which means they've got a teleport link with the ship, but they'll have deadlocked it. I need you to reopen the link”, the Doctor said.

The two women went to the door of the TARDIS and peeked out. “There's a Sontaran out there”, Donna said.

“Did he see you?” the Doctor asked.

“No, he's got his back to us”, Donna replied. She then noticed Alyssa searching for something by the console “Ali what are you looking for?”

Alyssa produced a mallet “this”, she said standing up “I’ll be right back”. Donna watched her creep up to the Sontaran and whacked him hard on the back of the neck. The Sontaran drops to the floor, unconscious.

“Back of the neck!” she cheered.


	15. Poison Sky part 2

“Nice one Ali”, Donna said coming out to join her now that the Sontaran guard had been taken care of.

“What happened?” the Doctor asked.

“She just hit the Sontaran with a mallet”, Donna replied.

“That’s one potato head down. Where do we go next?”  Alyssa said.

“You’ve got to find the external junction feed to the teleport”, the Doctor told them as they started to walk.

“What's it look like?” Donna asked.

“A circular panel on the wall. Big symbol on the front, like a, like a letter T with a horizontal line through it. Or, or, two Fs back to back”, the Doctor said describing it.

“Oh. Well, there's a door”, Donna said when they reached a closed door blocking their way.

“Should be a switch by the side”, the Doctor said.

Alyssa looked “yeah there is”, she confirmed.

“But its Sontaran shaped, you need three fingers”, Donna pointed out.

“Donna we have three fingers”, Alyssa reminded her holding up her hand.

“Oh, yeah”, Donna said.

Alyssa put her hand into the pattern and the door slide open “We’re through”, she reported.

“Oh, you two are brilliant”, the Doctor said.

“We know”, Donna and Alyssa said together causing them both to smile at each other.

“Right, T with a line through it”, Alyssa said.

“Got to go. Keep the line open”, the Doctor said. Donna took the phone of speaker and stuck it in her pocket. The pair continued walking the through the ship, Alyssa pulling Donna into the shadowy corner when she sensed a bunch of Sontarans coming their way.

Eventually they found the teleport link “let the Doctor know we’ve found it”, Alyssa set setting down the mallet. She kept an eye out while Donna rung the Doctor.

“Oh! Blimey, I'm busy”, the Doctor said “Got it?”

“Yes. Now hurry up!” Donna shouted.

“Take off the covering. All the blue switches inside. Flick them up like a fuse box, and that should get the teleport working”, the Doctor told her. Donna relayed that to Alyssa who got to work. As she finished another door slid open and Sontaran’s march in.

“Blue switches done, but they've found us”, Donna reported.

“Donna get into the teleport, now”, Alyssa said raising her hands and focusing on creating a wall to stop the Sontarans. Donna quickly ran into the teleport pod.

Once the ginger was there, Alyssa pushed the wall forwards, knocking the Sontaran’s back. She then ran into the teleport pod. A second later they disappeared in a flash of light.

They reappeared in some sort of lab. Donna ran out and attacked the Doctor with a hug “Have I ever told you how much I hate you?” she asked.

“All right, get off me”, the Doctor said wanting to make sure Alyssa was all right. He turned to his girlfriend who was rubbing her head “you used your powers again didn’t you?”

“Yep”, Alyssa replied.

“Why did you do that? You know it hurts whenever you do”, the Doctor said.

“It was either use them or let the Sontarans shoot us. Personally I prefer the former even if the consequence is this headache”, Alyssa said.

“Once this is over, I’ll get you something for that” he turned to the teleport and sonics it, beaming the TARDIS back down to where it was before. They then stepped inside the teleport pod and the Doctor teleported them all the Rattigan Academy. Where they were greeted by Luke who was pointing a gun at them.

The Doctor strode forward and yanked the weapon out of his hands. He’d seriously had it with people and aliens pointing guns his way. And the fact that Alyssa was there…. he was not having any of it “If I see one more gun…” he didn’t even bother to finish his threat as he tossed the gun away. He’d leave it to Luke’s imagination.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone watched as the Doctor started creating something with bits and pieces in Luke’s Lab. “That's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles. They were holding back”, he explained as he worked “Because caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground to air engagement could spark off the whole thing”.

“What, like set fire to the atmosphere?” Alyssa asked.

“Yeah. They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory. Planning a little trip, were we?”

“They promised me a new world”, Luke admitted.

“You were building equipment, ready to terraform El Mondo Luko so that humans could live there and breathe the air with this. An atmospheric converter”, the Doctor said.  

The Doctor picks up the atmospheric converter and runs outside “That's London. You can't even see it. My family's in there”, Donna said looking at the vast area of land blanketed by a thick yellow fog.

“Mine too”, Alyssa said feeling a pang of guilt at how she never even phoned her mother to warn her. She really hoped she was ok.

“If I can get this on the right setting…” the Doctor said as he knelt on the floor, fiddling with the device.

“Doctor, hold on. You said the atmosphere would ignite”, Martha said.

“Yeah, I did, didn't I?” he pressed a button and a flame shoots up into the sky, igniting it. Alyssa took his hand as they watched the flames race across the sky, burning up all the poison gas.

“He's a genius!” Luke proclaimed.

“Just brilliant”, Martha agreed.

“Now we're in trouble!” the Doctor said picking up his converter and runs back into the building. The others hurried after him. Alyssa watched with a frown on her face as the Doctor stepped into the teleport pod, atmospheric converter in his arms. “Right...so, Donna, thank you for everything. Martha, you too. Oh…so many times. Luke, do something clever with your life. Ali…” the Doctor trailed off unable to say the right words.

“You're saying goodbye”, Donna said.

“Sontarans are never defeated. They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so…” the Doctor trailed off.

“You're going to ignite them”, Alyssa finished tears starting to build in her eyes as she realised what that meant. He was going to sacrifice himself to save the rest of them.

“You'll kill yourself”, Donna stated putting an arm around Alyssa who was trying to hold it together.

“Just send that thing up on it's own. I don't know…put it on a delay”, Martha suggested. She knew how much the pair meant to each other. She knew it was going to tear Alyssa apart if he was killed.

“I can't”, the Doctor said quietly. His hearts ached to see Alyssa getting upset, he never liked to see that. But this time was worse as it was _he_ was the cause. However, he knew this was the right thing to do. He had to keep her safe. And if sacrificing himself was the only way… then he would do it with no hesitation.

“Why not?” Donna asked.

“I've got to give them a choice”, the Doctor replied before teleporting away. The second he was gone, Alyssa collapsed to the floor taking Donna down with her. Martha sat down on her other side putting her arms around her too. The pair hugged Alyssa as she sobbed, her heart breaking at the Doctor’s decision.

Luke watched the red head cry, clinging onto the other two woman like they were her lifelines. He knew what he had to do. He walked to the teleport pod and started to fiddle with it. “What are you doing?” Martha asked noticing.

“Something clever”, Luke replied and teleported out. A second later, the Doctor appears in the teleport pod looking rather confused. He didn’t know what had happened, one moment he was on the ship and the next he was back at the academy. Then he noticed that Luke was missing. Now he knew what had happened. Luke had gone in his place. Sacrificed himself so that the earth would keep on turning.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Alyssa nearly threw herself at him, causing him to stumble. Immediately, his arms went around her, holding her tightly. Alyssa buried her face into his neck as fresh set of tears ran down her face. “Don’t do anything like that again”, she sobbed “I can’t lose you”.

The Doctor didn’t say anything, just held her close as she cried. One thing he knew for certain, he wasn’t going to do anything like that again. Unless her life was on the line then he most definitely would. She was _everything_ to him. And he would do anything to keep her safe.


	16. The Doctor's Daughter part 1

Donna entered the TARDIS a little later she found Alyssa and Martha chatting away while the Doctor was at the console watching them “How were they?” Martha asked the ginger when she noticed her.

“Oh, same old stuff. They're fine. So, you going to come with us? We're not exactly short of space”, Donna said.

“Oh, I have missed all this, but, you know. I'm good here, back at home. And I'm better for having been away. Besides” Martha held up her left hand “someone needs me. Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own now!”

Martha walked towards the doors when they suddenly slammed shut and the TARDIS jerked wildly, startling them all. “What?” the Doctor yelled as Alyssa stumbled over to the console “What?”

“Doctor, don't you dare!” Martha shouted glaring at the Time Lord as she clung onto the railing.

“No, no, no. I didn't touch anything. We're in flight. It's not me!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“Where are we going?” Donna asked clinging onto the railing too very tightly.

“I don't know. It's out of control!”

“Sexy what’s happening?” Alyssa asked but she didn’t get any answer from the box.

“Doctor, just listen to me. You take me home. Take me home right now!” Martha shouted.

“Martha we’d love to take you home but the controls aren’t working!” Alyssa shouted as she desperately tried to regain some sort of control. But nothing she was doing was working. Nothing the Doctor was doing was working either.

There was a jolt, sending them both to the floor “well wherever we’re going, your old hand seems rather excited”, Alyssa remarked as she’d fallen right by the jar and seen the hand bubbling away.

“Oh so it is”, the Doctor said as he helped Alyssa up.

“I thought that was just some freaky alien thing. You telling me it’s _yours_? Donna asked staring at the Doctor.

“Well…”

“It got cut off”, Martha explained “He grew a new one”.

“You are completely…impossible!” Donna said gaping at the Time Lord.

“Not impossible, just…a bit unlikely!” the Doctor corrected her.

The console let off a bang which knocked them all backwards, the Doctor and Alyssa ending up on the captain’s chair. “Everyone ok?” Alyssa asked getting up.

“Yeah”, the Doctor replied.

“I’m fine”, Donna replied.

“Me too”, Martha put in.  

~Tunnel entrance~

“Why would the TARDIS bring us here, then?” the Doctor asked as he stepped out of the box into an underground tunnel littered with junk and old equipment.

“Oh, I love this bit”, Martha admitted.

“I thought you wanted to go home”, Donna said looking at Martha pointedly.

“I know, but all the same, it's that feeling you get…” Martha began.

“Like you swallowed a hamster?” Donna finished.

“I still get that feeling occasionally”, Alyssa said.

Martha opened her mouth to say something when all of a sudden there was a loud noise. When they looked over at the source of the commotion, several soldiers appeared.

“Don't move! Stay where you are! Drop your weapons”, Cline ordered. All four of them quickly put their hands up, the Doctor grumbling internally about how sick and tired he was of having guns pointed at them. Specifically Alyssa.

“We're unarmed. Look, no weapons” the Doctor assured them “Never any weapons. We're safe”.

“Look at their hands. They're clean”, another solider said nodding at their raised hands.

“All right, process them. Him first”, Cline commanded.

The two soldiers who’d accompanied Cline strode over to the Doctor, grabbed him and dragged him over to strange looking machine.

“Oi, oi! What's wrong with clean hands?” the Doctor asked.

“What's going on?” Martha asked at the same time Donna and Alyssa shouted

“Leave him alone!”

The soldiers just ignore them and force the Doctor’s arm into a hole in the machine. He yells out in pain as the machine whizzed away “Something tells me this isn't about to check my blood pressure….AAGGH!”

“What are you doing to him?” Donna asked as Alyssa cringed feeling the Doctor’s pain. Seeing this, Martha put an arm around her trying send her feelings that would help to numb what she was picking up the Doctor.

“Thanks”, Alyssa said quietly picking up Martha’s feelings, knowing what she was trying to do.

“Everyone gets processed”, Cline told them.

“It's taken a tissue sample” the Doctor explained “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! And extrapolated it! Some kind of accelerator?”

The machine released the Doctor and he moved back, examining his hand. “Are you all right?” Alyssa asked running over, gently taking his hand to look at the Y shaped graze on the back of it.

“What about you? Did you feel…?”

“Yeah, I did”, Alyssa replied.

“Ali I’m sorry” the Doctor felt awful at the fact that Alyssa had felt his pain. That was the _last_ thing he wanted.

“It’s ok. Martha-“ Alyssa broke off and frowned.

“What is it?” the Doctor asked.

“I can sense another Time Lord. It’s coming from…” Alyssa looked over at the machine as the doors open. A blonde haired young woman stepped out “her”.

“Arm yourself”, Cline said handing the newcomer a gun which she handles with ease.

“Where did she come from?” Martha asked eyeing her.

“From I”, the Doctor replied staring at the young woman.

“From you?!” Donna looked at the Doctor “How? Who is she?”

“Well…she's…well…she's my daughter…”

The blonde turned to him, smiling “Hello, Dad!” she said cheerfully.

“You primed to take orders? Ready to fight?” Cline questioned.

“Instant mental download of all strategic and military protocols, sir. Generation five thousand soldier primed and in peak physical health. Oh, I'm ready”, the Doctor’s daughter said.

“Did you say daughter?” Donna asked confused.

“Mmm” he hummed before shaking his head “Technically”. This young woman couldn’t be his, she _couldn’t_ be. For one very simple reason: it wasn’t Alyssa’s. They hadn’t had a discussion about their future together mostly because they were both aware of the fact that Alyssa was human. That didn’t stop the Doctor from thinking about what their future could’ve been like if she’d been like him. Eventually he would have proposed…they would’ve gotten married…had children…

But it wasn’t going to happen because she was _human_. Although there was the matter of Alyssa having some of the time vortex in her… “Technically how?” Martha asked breaking the Doctor out of his thoughts.

“Progenation. Reproduction from a single organism. Means one parent is biological mother and father. You take a sample of diploid cells, split them into haploids, then recombine them in a different arrangement and grow. Very quickly, apparently”, the Doctor explained.

“Something's coming”, the Doctor’s daughter shouted. They turned to see several figures with purple fish heads and green liquid tubes and their mouths come running in. All of them ran for cover the moment these newcomers started firing.

“It's the Hath!” Cline shouted firing back along with his other soldiers. “We have to blow the tunnel. Get the detonator”.

“I'm not detonating anything!” the Doctor shouted.

Just then two Hath’s appeared behind Alyssa and Martha, grabbing them and pulling them back while the Doctor’s daughter kicked a Hath and picked up the detonator.

“Blow the thing! Blow the thing!” Cline ordered.

“Doctor!” Alyssa shouted struggling in the Hath’s grip.

“Ali!” the Doctor shouted, seeing both his girlfriend and friend being dragged away by the Hath “Martha! No! Don't!” he ran to his ‘daughter’s side trying to stop her, only for her to hit the button. Donna grabbed the Doctor, pulling him back behind cover as the tunnel exploded. He was on his feet in an instant, staring at the rubble that separated him from his good friend and the woman he loved.

The Doctor rounded on his daughter angrily “You've sealed off the tunnel. Why did you do that?” he demanded.

“They were trying to kill us”, his daughter told him.

“But they've got my girlfriend!” the Doctor argued.

“Collateral damage. At least you've still got her” the blonde jerked her thumb at Donna “He lost both his men. I'd say you came out ahead”.

“Their names are Ali and Martha” Donne cut in with a glare “And they’re not collateral damage, not for anyone! Have you got that, GI Jane?!” she couldn’t believe how this woman could just shrug Alyssa and Martha off as if they were nothing. They _weren’t_ nothing, they were her friends.

“I'm going to find them”, the Doctor said turning to the wall of rubble.

“You're going nowhere”, Cline said pointing his gun at him “You don't make sense, you two. No guns, no marks, no fight in you. I'm taking you to General Cobb…Now, move”

The Doctor turned to the young man, with a dark look on his face. How dare he order him to give up on his girl? He would _never_ give up on her, not for anyone. “You really think I’m just going to go with _you_ …” he took a step towards Cline, the young man having the decency to look a little scared “and leave the woman I _love_ behind? That’s never going to happen. You can go back to your General, but I’m staying” and with that he turned and walked back to the rubble.


	17. The Doctor's Daughter part 2

Martha blinked blearily as she slowly came to. “Ali?” she said sitting up. She saw her friend lying unconscious in a little ways away in the middle of some debris “Ali!” Martha painfully got to her feet, stumbled over to the red head. When she reached her, Martha noticed a nasty cut on her forehead. She placed a hand on the young woman’s shoulder and gave her a very gentle shake.

It was a few moments before Alyssa woke “Martha?” she said blearily.

“It’s me” Martha said helping her into a sitting position “I wouldn’t”, she added stopping Alyssa from touching the cut on her forehead.

“Is it bad?” Alyssa asked as Martha examined it.

“Uh no. it’s not that bad”, Martha lied.

“You know I can tell when you’re lying, right? So how bad is it?” Alyssa asked.

“It’s rather nasty”, Martha confessed “Wish I had a first aid kit on me, I could sort that out for you”.

“Oh well. I guess I’ll try to survive so I can get patched up”, Alyssa said pushing herself to her feet. Martha grabbed her arm when she stumbled “Thanks”.

It was only when they’d stood up that they noticed that the two Hath that had kidnapped them where lying on the floor, unresponsive. “Martha, there’s no point”, Alyssa said as the woman went over to one to see if it was still alive “I can’t sense anything from either of them”.

“You mean they’re…dead?” Martha asked carefully.

“I’m afraid so”, Alyssa said solemnly “we need to get out of here”, she added. With that she turned and walked away. She didn’t get very far until her legs wobbled. Martha rushed over to her, quickly grabbing her before she collapsed.

“Maybe we’ll take it slow”, Martha suggested, slinging Alyssa’s arm over her shoulder.

“Yeah, good idea”, Alyssa agreed.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cline, the Doctor’s daughter, Donna and a rather reluctant Doctor walked through the tunnels. It had taken some convincing on Donna’s part but she managed to get the Doctor to agree to at least talk with General Cobb on the possibility that he may know another way to reach Martha and Alyssa.

“I'm Donna. What's your name?” Donna asked the Doctor’s daughter.

“Don't know. It's not been assigned”, the blonde replied.

“Well, if you don't know that, what do you know?” Donna asked.

“How to fight”, the Doctor’s daughter answered.

“Nothing else?” Donna questioned.

“The machine must embed military history and tactics, but no name” the Doctor explained not looking at the blonde woman “She's a generated anomaly”.

“Generated anomaly”, Donna repeated “Jenny-rated. Well, what about that? Jenny!”

“Jenny” the woman nodded, liking her new name “Yeah, I like that. Jenny”.

“What do you think, ‘Dad’?” Donna asked glancing at the Doctor.

“Good as anything, I suppose”, the Doctor said distractedly. He just wanted to get to Alyssa and Martha, not bond with his ‘daughter’. _No_ he thought firmly _she’s not mine. She might be from me but she’s not mine_. He refused to consider the woman his daughter purely because she wasn’t Alyssa’s.

“Not what you'd call a natural parent, are you?” Donna remarked. Alyssa seemed to be the more natural parent out of the two of them considering the way she took care of Connie.

“They stole a tissue sample at gunpoint and processed it. It's not what I call natural parenting”, the Doctor shot back.

“Rubbish!” Donna laughed “My friend Nerys fathered twins with a turkey baster. Don't bother her”.

“You can't extrapolate a relationship from a biological accident”, the Doctor said firmly. He couldn’t accept Jenny as his daughter. He wouldn’t.

“Er, Child Support Agency can”, Donna countered.

“Look, just because I share certain physiological traits with simian primates doesn't make me a monkey's uncle, does it?” the Doctor asked.

“I'm not a monkey” Jenny huffed “Or a child”.

~Camp~

“So, where are we? What planet's this?” the Doctor asked when they reached the human base, a huge underground theatre.

“Messaline. Well, what's left of it”, Cline replied before walking off.

_…663-75 deceased. Generation 6671, extinct. Generation 6672 – 46 deceased. Generation 6680 – 14 deceased. Generation…_

“But this is a theatre!” Donna said looking around the room with a frown.

“Maybe they're doing _Miss Saigon_ ” the Doctor remarked.

“It's like a town or a city underground. But why?” Donna asked.

Just then Cline came back over with an older man “General Cobb, I presume?” the Doctor said nodding to the older man.

“Found in the western tunnels, I'm told, with no marks. There was an outbreak of pacifism in the eastern zone three generations back, before we lost contact. Is that where you came from?” General Cobb demanded.

“Eastern zone, that's us, yeah. Yeah. I'm The Doctor, this is Donna”, the Doctor said, introducing himself and the ginger.

“And I'm Jenny”, Jenny added.

“Don't think you can infect us with your peacemaking. We're committed to the fight, to the very end”, General Cobb said.

“Well, that's all right. I can't stay, anyway. I've got to go and find my girlfriend and friend”, the Doctor told him.

“That's not possible, all movement is regulated. We're at war”, General Cobb informed him.

“Yes, I noticed”, the Doctor said “With the Hath. But tell me, because we got a bit out of circulation, eastern zone and all that. So who exactly are the Hath?”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Martha, can we stop for a sec?” Alyssa asked feeling a little lightheaded.

“Sure, I think we’re safe enough”, Martha replied.

“We are, I can’t sense anything nearby”, Alyssa said leaning against the wall.

“So you and the Doctor…” Martha began.

“What about us?” Alyssa asked.

“Well I saw the way you two were acting and that rather intimate kiss in the factory… I’m assuming things are going very well?” Martha asked.

“Yeah they are”, Alyssa replied closing her eyes.

“Ali, don’t fall asleep on me”, Martha said.

“Sorry”, Alyssa said apologetically opening her eyes “just feel a little light headed”.

“I know. You think you can keep going?” Martha questioned.

“I think so” Alyssa pushed herself away from the wall. “Actually I think…I’m…” she broke off as she suddenly passed out. Martha managed to catch her as she pitched forward which sent them both to the ground.

“I wish you were here Doctor”, Martha murmured as she laid Alyssa’s head on her lap. She looked up when she heard several steps of running footsteps. Then three Hath appeared.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Back at the dawn of this planet, these ancient halls were carved from the earth” Cobb explained as they gathered around a holographic table “Our ancestors dreamt of a new beginning. A colony where human and Hath would work and live together”.

“So what happened?” the Doctor asked.

“The dream died” Cobb replied simply “Broken, along with Hath promises. They wanted it all for themselves. But those early pioneers, they fought back. They used the machines to produce soldiers instead of colonists, and began this battle for survival”.

“There's nothing but earth outside, why's that?” Donna looked at the window “Why build everything underground?”

“The surface is too dangerous”, Cline stated.

“Well, then why build windows in the first place? And what does this mean?” Donna pointed at a line of numbers of a plaque.

“The rites and symbols of our ancestors. The meaning's lost in time”, General Cobb replied.

“How long's this war gone on for?” the Doctor asked.

“Longer than anyone can remember. Countless generations marked only by the dead”, General Cobb said.

“What, fighting all this time?” Donna asked.

“Because we must. Every child of the machine is born with this knowledge” Jenny added “It's our inheritance. It's all we know. How to fight, and how to die”.

Those words just proved how Jenny could never be his daughter. She wasn’t like Alyssa in anyway. Alyssa was kind and caring. She put others needs before her own and she _hated_ death. She didn’t even like to say goodbye because to her that word seemed too final. Alyssa was the opposite of Jenny.

~Hath camp~

The Hath showed Martha a holographic map of the tunnels and chambers. It had been a little tense when she and Alyssa were first brought to the Hath camp as the aliens believed that they were the enemy. But when Martha helped set an injured Hath’s dislocated shoulder, she managed to explain that neither of them were the enemy. It helped that the injured Hath translated her words for the others.

The injured Hath also aided Martha in patching up Alyssa, whom was still unconscious. “Right…so we're here?” she asked pointing at the map and the Hath nodded.

~Camp~

“Does this show the entire city, including the Hath zones?” the Doctor asked looking at the map closely.

“Yes. Why?” General Cobb asked.

“Well, it'll help us find Ali and Martha”, the Doctor said.

“We've more important things to do” Cline said “The progenation machines are powered down for the night shift, but soon as they're active, we could breed a whole platoon from you two”.

“I'm not having sons and daughters by some great big flippin’ machine” Donna looked at Jenny “Sorry, no offence, but you're not…well, I mean, you're not real”

“You're no better than him!” Jenny exclaimed “I have a body, I have a mind, I have independent thought. How am I not real? What makes you better than me?”

“Well said, soldier”, General Cobb said proudly “We need more like you, if ever we're to find the Source”.

“Ooh, the Source. What's that, then?” the Doctor grinned “What's a Source? I like a Source. What is it?”

“The Breath of Life”, General Cobb said. 

“And that would be?” the Doctor asked.

“In the beginning, the great one breathed life into the universe. And then she looked at what she'd done, and she sighed”, General Cobb explained.

“She?” Jenny smiled “I like that”.

“Right. So it's a creation myth” the Doctor guessed a little distracted by something on the map.

“It's not myth” Cobb insisted “It's real. That sigh. From the beginning of time it was caught and kept as the Source. It was lost when the war started. But it's here, somewhere. Whoever holds the Source controls the destiny of the planet”.  

“Ah! I thought so. There's a suppressed layer of information in this map. If I can just…” the Doctor soniced the map and another set of tunnels appeared.

“What is it, what's it mean?” Donna frowned.

“See?” the Doctor smiled “A whole complex of tunnels hidden from sight”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Hath camp~

Martha blinked as a new set of tunnels appeared on the Hath’s map “Hold on, look!”

~Human Camp~

Cobb pointed at an area on the new map “That must be the lost temple. The Source will be inside. You've shown us the way! And look, we're closer than the Hath. It's ours!”

~Hath camp~

“That's a new map” Martha smiled “There's a different set of tunnels!” she glanced at Alyssa and her smile dropped seeing that she _still_ wasn’t awake.

~Human Camp~

“Tell them to prepare to move out” Cobb ordered Cline “We'll progenate new soldiers on the morning shift, then we march. Once we reach the Temple, peace will be restored at long last”

“Um, call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace, couldn't you just stop fighting?” the Doctor asked.

“Only when we have the Source. It'll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet!”

“Hang on, hang on. A second ago it was peace in our time. Now you're talking about genocide?!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“For us, that means the same thing”, General Cobb said with a shrug.

“Then you need to get yourself a better dictionary. When you do, look up genocide. You'll see a little picture of me there, and the caption will read, ‘over my dead body’”, the Doctor said.

“And you're the one who showed us the path to victory. But you can consider the irony from your prison cell. Cline, at arms!”

Cline immediately lifted his gun “Oi, oi, oi! All right. Cool the beans, Rambo!” Donna shouted

“Take them. I won't have them spreading treason. And if you try anything, Doctor, I'll see that your woman dies first”, General Cobb threatened.

“No, we're _not_ a couple”, the Doctor said firmly.

“I am not his woman!” Donna agreed. This was the third time the people had assumed that she and the Doctor were together.

“Come on” Cline jerked his gun “This way”

“I'm going to stop you, Cobb. You need to know that”, the Doctor said.

“I have an army and the Breath of God on my side, Doctor. What'll you have?” General Cobb asked.

“This”, the Doctor said tapping his head.

“Lock them up and guard them”, General Cobb ordered.

“What about the new soldier?” Cline eyed Jenny.

“Can't trust her” Cobb said pushing Jenny into the Doctor’s arms “She's from pacifist stock. Take them all!”

~Hath camp~

The Hath waved their guns in the air, celebrating Martha. “But I didn't do anything!” the woman insisted. The Hath continued to celebrate, patting Martha on the back. She heard a noise and looked over at Alyssa, who was starting to stir. Martha rushed over to her.

“Martha? What’s happening?” Alyssa asked as the woman helped her sit up.

“I think I just started a war”, Martha said quietly.

Alyssa stared at her “What?”


	18. The Doctor's Daughter part 3

“What do you mean you think you started a war?” Alyssa asked as Martha led her over to the holographic table with the map of the tunnels still displayed. All the Hath had marched off with the exception of one, the one Martha helped.

“One moment we were looking at a map and the next, these tunnels appeared. And the Hath looked really happy or as happy as fish headed aliens can look”, Martha explained.

“They thought you did something to the map”, Alyssa said.

“Yes, but I didn’t do anything Ali, I swear”, Martha said putting her hands up.

“I believe you”, Alyssa said sensing she was telling her the truth “so these new tunnels appeared and they thought you were responsible, hence why you thought you’d just started a war”.

“Exactly”, Martha said.  

“Ok, let’s have a look. Where would the Hath go?” Alyssa asked looking at the map. The Hath that was left behind stepped up, pointed to a spot on the map and bubbled away. “A temple? That’s where they’re going?” the Hath nodded.

“You understand him?” Martha asked.

“Yeah”, Alyssa said. They watched as the Hath fiddled with the controls of the map changing it into a 3D version. “There’s even more, in 3D. Oh you’re brilliant”, Alyssa said smiling at the Hath who bowed his head as if he was shy or blushing.

“So this is where everybody's headed?” Martha asked pointing to an area “But look…those tunnels sort of zig-zag. If we went up and over the surface in a straight line, we'd get there first”.

The Hath gurgles, protesting “he says that’s not a good idea”, Alyssa said translating.

“Why not?” Martha asked.

The Hath brings up a diagram “Are these readings for the surface? Well, it doesn't look too bad. Nitrogen and oxygen about eighty twenty. That's fine. Ozone levels are high, and some big radiation spikes. But as long as we're…” Martha broke off when she heard a phone ring. It was Alyssa’s.

“Donna”, she said as she answered it, putting it on speaker so Martha could hear too.

“Ali! You’re alive!” Donna cheered.

“Oh thank god”, the women heard the Doctor say in the background, sounding very relieved.

“Yep. Martha is too”, Alyssa reported.

“Hey Donna”, Martha said happy to hear the ginger’s voice “Are you all right?”

“The Doctor’s with me and J-“

“We’re fine”, the Doctor cut in before Donna finished speaking “are you two ok?”

“We’re fine. Still in one piece”, Alyssa replied. Martha opened her mouth to tell the Doctor about Alyssa’s injury but the red head mouthed ‘no’ at her. She didn’t want the Doctor to know she’d been hurt. If he found out, he’d panic and probably do something stupid to try to get to her. Which Alyssa didn’t want him doing. He had to concentrate on the more important situation, like two armies heading for the same spot which would inevitably end in a bloodbath.

“And Jenny. She's fine too”, Donna spoke up.

“Yes, all right” the Doctor huffed “And, and…Jenny. That's the woman from the machine. The soldier. My daughter, except she isn't…she's…she's…Anyway! Where are you two?”

“We're in the Hath camp”, Alyssa replied “alone”.

“As the Hath are all marching off to some temple that's appeared on this map thing”, Martha added.

“Oh, that was me” Alyssa and Martha exchanged looks at that “If both armies are heading that way, there's going to be a bloodbath. I want you two to stay put”.

“But we can help!” Alyssa said.

“No. I want you both safe, so stay put”, the Doctor repeated firmly.

“Ok we’ll stay put”, Alyssa said after a moment.

“I love you”, the Doctor said.

“I love you too”, Alyssa said and hung up. She turned to Martha “there’s no way I’m staying put. I’m going to that temple. Don’t try to talk me out of it Martha”.

“Wasn’t going to”, Martha said. She knew that there was no way Alyssa was going to stay put. They turned to walk off when the Hath gurgled

“He wants to know if he can come”, Alyssa translated.

“Fine with me”, Martha said.

“By the way I’m Ali and this is Martha. What’s your name?” Alyssa asked. The Hath gurgled his answer “he says his name is Peck”, Alyssa said, translating.

“Nice to meet you Peck”, Martha said.

Peck gurgled “he says ‘nice to meet you too’”.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 A little while later Alyssa, Martha and Peck reached a set of stairs. As the trio climbed up them, Peck started to gurgle. “He says that he’s starting to reconsider going up top”, Alyssa informed Martha.

“You can stay down here and live your whole life in the shadows, or come with me and stand in the open air. Feel the wind on your face. What's it going to be?” Martha asked.

Peck still hesitated “Peck, you don’t have to come, it's up to you” Alyssa added “But Martha and I need to go and nothing's going to stop us”.  

Martha nodded in agreement and continued up the stairs, pushing open the hatch at the very top. “Don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing things like that”, Alyssa remarked taking note of the three moons that lit up the deserted, windswept surface.

“I knew you couldn't resist it”, Martha said noticing that Peck had decided to join them.

Peck gurgled a response “oi! Language!” Alyssa scolded “come on”.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trekking along the planet’s surface was hard work for the trio, especially when they were being assaulted by the wind and the rain “It can't be much further”, Alyssa shouted over the wind. Suddenly Martha yelped as she tripped over, slipping down the hill. Before she landed in the bog below, her body jerked to a stop.

Slowly she started sliding back up the slope. When she reached the top, Peck grabbed her and pulled her back away from the edge. “Thanks Ali”, she said as Peck helped her to her feet.

“You’re welcome”, Alyssa groaned rubbing her head “come on we’ve got to keep moving”. She turned and walked away, Peck and Martha steadying her as she wobbled slightly.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Corridor~

“So, you travel together, but you're not…together?” Jenny asked Donna as they walked.

“What? No, no! No way. No, no, we're friends, that's all”, Donna said quickly “besides the Doctor’s already got a girlfriend and that’s Ali”.

“This Ali woman…is she my mother?” Jenny asked. After her little stunt through the lasers, the Doctor had given her big hug proclaiming that she was as brilliant as Alyssa.

“I think so”, Donna replied “what do you think Doctor?” the ginger called to the Time Lord “You recon Ali would be a good mum for Jenny?”

“A good mum?” the Doctor turned to Jenny and Donna “She’d be a fantastic mum, a brilliant mum”.

Jenny smiled at the prospect of having _two_ parents. “And what's it like, the travelling?” she asked.

“Oh, never a dull moment”, the Doctor replied smiling as he remembered his various trips with Alyssa.

“I’ve seen some pretty amazing things, travelling with him. Sometimes even stood on different planets”, Donna added.

“Oh, I'd love to see new worlds”, Jenny said.

“And you’ll get to see them”, the Doctor said.

“Really?” Jenny asked.

“Of course. We can't leave you here, can we?” the Doctor said.

Jenny surprised him by giving him a hug “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Come on! Let's get a move on!”

“Careful, there might be traps”, the Doctor called as Jenny ran off. Try as he might to not form a bond with Jenny, he couldn’t help it. Especially since she chose to slow Cobb and the other soldiers down by blocking their path, instead of killing them.

Donna shook her head “Kids. They never listen” she noticed a troubled look on the Doctor’s face “Oh, I know that look. I see it a lot round our way. Blokes with pushchairs and frowns. You've got dad-shock”

“Dad-shock?”

“Sudden unexpected fatherhood. Take a bit of getting used to”, Donna elaborated.  

“No, it's not that”, the Doctor said.  

“Well, what is it then?” Donna asked “Having Jenny in the TARDIS, is that it? What's she going to do, cramp your style? Like you've got a sports car and she's going to turn it into a people-carrier?”

“Donna, I've been a father before”, the Doctor admitted.

“What?” Donna gasped.

“I lost all that a long time ago, along with everything else”, the Doctor said.

“I'm sorry”, Donna put a hand on his shoulder “I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me? You talk all the time, but you don't _say_ anything”.

 _I do to Ali_ the Doctor thought. He’d opened up a few times about his past. He hadn’t told her everything but she knew a little about the Time War and about some of his incarnations. The one big thing they hadn’t talked about was what he did to stop the War, using the Moment. And the great thing about Alyssa is that she never forced him to talk about any of it, she let him open up when he wanted to. And if they got to a topic that was hard for him to talk about, she would change that subject. It was one of the things he loved about her.

“I know. I'm just…when I look at her now, I can see them. The hole they left, all the pain that filled it. I just don't know if I can face that every day”, the Doctor said.

“It won't stay like that. She'll help you. Ali will help you. I’ll help you”, Donna assured him.

“But when they died, that part of me died with them. It'll never come back. Not now”

“I tell you something, Doctor. Something I've never told you before. I think you're wrong”, Donna stated.

Jenny ran back to them as shooting sounded in the distance “They've blasted through the beams. Time to run again. Love the running! Yeah?” she said.

“Love the running”, the Doctor agreed. They smiled at each other before they run again.


	19. The Doctor's Daughter part 4

Peck, Alyssa and Martha struggled forward, all three of them shaking from the cold. “I think I see the temple!” Alyssa shouted seeing the ‘temple’ in the distance. The trio hurried towards it, wanting to get out of the cold as soon as possible.

\----------------

 “We're trapped!” Donna exclaimed as they reached a dead end.

“Can't be. This must be the Temple” the Doctor touched a panel on the door “This is a door”.

Then Donna noticed yet another number stamp, 60120712 “And again. We're down to 1-2 now”

“I've got it!” the Doctor said working on the wall with the sonic.

“I can hear them” Jenny said.

“Nearly done”, the Doctor told her.

“These can't be a cataloguing system”, Donna said frowning at the numbers trying to figure it out.

“They're getting closer”, Jenny warned.

“Then get back here!”

“They're too similar” Donna eyed “Too familiar”

Jenny shook her head “Not yet”, she said.

“Now!” he shouted as the door slid open “Got it”.

~surface~

Martha, Alyssa and Peck reached a similar door on the surface. Together they pulled the door open and slipped inside.

~ Spaceship~

“They're coming! Close the door!” Jenny said. The Doctor pushes some keys on a pad and the door slid shut. “Oh, that was close”

“No fun otherwise”, the Doctor told her.

“It's not what I'd call a temple”, Donna remarked taking in the room they’d stepped in.

“It looks more like…” Jenny began.

“Fusion drive transport” the Doctor agreed, eyeing the high tech around them “It's a spaceship”.

“What, the original one? The one the first colonists arrived in?” Donna asked.

“Well, it could be, but the power cells would have run down after all that time. This one's still powered-up and functioning. Come on!” the Doctor said.

The trio head up a flight of stairs to see someone is cutting their way through another door. “It's the Hath! That door's not going to last much longer. And if General Cobb gets through down there, war's going to break out. We’ve got to stop them”, Jenny said.

The Doctor couldn’t help but smile at the fact Jenny was trying to _stop_ the fighting. “Look, look, look, look, look!” he ran to a control panel “Ship's log”. He switched it on and read through the information. “’First wave of Human/Hath co-colonisation of planet Messaline’”

“So it is the original ship”, Jenny said.

“What happened?” Donna asked.

“’Phase one’” the Doctor read aloud “’construction’. They used robot drones to build the city”.  

“But does it mention the war?” Donna asked.

The Doctor scrolled through the information “Final entry. ‘Mission commander dead. Still no agreement on who should assume leadership. Hath and humans have divided into factions’. That must be it! A power vacuum. The crew divided into two factions and turned on each other. Start using the progenation machines, suddenly you've got two armies fighting a never-ending war!”

“Two armies who are now both outside”, Jenny added.

“Look at that” Donna pointed to a number on the screen, but now at 2-4, 60120724.

“It's like the numbers in the tunnels”, the Doctor realized.

“No, no, no, no, but listen…I spent six months working as a temp in Hounslow Library, and I mastered the Dewey Decimal System in two days flat. I'm good with numbers! It's staring us in the face!”

“What is?” Jenny asked.

“It's the _date_! Assuming the first two numbers are some big old space date, then you've got year, month, day. It's the other way round, like it is in America!”

“Oh!” the Doctor’s eyes widened “It's the New Byzantine Calendar!”

“The codes are completion dates for each section. They finish it, they stamp the date on. So the numbers aren't counting down, they're going out from here, day by day, as the city got built”, Donna explained.

“Yes! Oh, good work, Donna!” the Doctor said proudly.

“Yeah! But you're _still_ not getting it. The first number I saw back there, was 6012-07-17. Well, look at the date today”, Donna said.  

“07-24! _No_!”

“What does it mean?” Jenny asked not quite following.

“7 days”, the Doctor said.

“That's it!” Donna smiled “7 days!”

“Just 7 days?!”

“What do you mean, 7 days?” Jenny asked still not quite getting it.

“7 days since war broke out”, the Doctor said.

“This war started seven days ago! Just a week! A week!” Donna exclaimed.

“They said _years_!” Jenny said.

“No, they said _generations_ ”, Donna corrected her “And if they're all like you, and they're products of those machines…”

“They could have 20 generations in a day! Each generation gets killed in the war, passes on the legend! Ohhh! Donna, you're a genius!”

“But all the buildings, the encampments. They're in _ruins_ ”, Jenny countered.

“No, they're not ruined. They're just _empty_! Waiting to be populated! Oh, they've mythologised their entire history. The Source must be part of that too. Come on!” the Doctor said.

They turned and ran around a corner only to bump into Martha, Alyssa and Peck.  “Doctor!” Martha beamed “Donna!”

“Ali!” the Doctor pulled her into a tight hug, Alyssa smiling as she felt his relief through his embrace. He drew back only to press his lips against hers proceeding to kiss her, pouring all his love into it. When the Doctor pulled back, he noticed the small bit of gauze taped to her forehead “you’re hurt. You told me on the phone that you were fine”.

“I didn’t want to worry you. Besides apart from a headache, I’m fine”, Alyssa said.

“She’s right. I checked her out and she’ll be fine”, Martha said.

“When we get back to the TARDIS, I’m going to make sure you’re fine”, the Doctor said.

“Ok. So you’re not going to have a go at us for not staying put?” Alyssa asked.

“No. I should’ve known you weren’t going to” the Doctor placed a hand on her cheek and Alyssa automatically leant into his touch.

“Ali there’s someone we’d like you to meet”, Donna spoke up. Alyssa looked over at her and Jenny “this is Jenny”.

“Hi mum”, Jenny said now a little shy.

“Mum?” Alyssa asked confused.

“As I’m the Doctor’s daughter and you being his girlfriend… well I um thought that would make you my mum and Donna seemed to agree and so did dad therefore I-“ Jenny was cut off from her rambling when Alyssa suddenly hugged her.

“I’d love to be your mother Jenny”, Alyssa said. She was touched that Jenny thought of her as her ‘mother’ because of her relationship to the Doctor.

“Really?”

“Absolutely. Though I’m not sure how I’m going to tell _my_ mum that she’s got a grown up granddaughter”, Alyssa said.  

“I have a grandmother?” Jenny asked delighted.

“Yes you do”, Alyssa confirmed.

“You two are very filthy”, Donna remarked finally taking in Alyssa and Martha’s appearance “What happened?”

“We took the surface route”, Alyssa replied.

“And what’s he doing here?” the Doctor asked eyeing Peck who was hanging back.

“That’s Peck”, Martha replied.

“He’s a friend” Alyssa quickly added sensing the Doctor getting a little angry as he looked at the Hath “he helped us”.

Suddenly they all heard Cobb speak somewhere in the distance. “That's the General. We haven't got much time”, the Doctor said.

“We don't even know what we're looking for!” Donna reminded him. 

“Is it me, or can you smell flowers?” Martha asked catching a whiff of something rather sweet.

The Doctor smelled the air “Yes. Bougainvillea. I say we follow our nose!” he said.

~Hydroponics~

The group followed the scent of flowers to what appeared to be a huge greenhouse filled with all sorts of exotic looking plants “Oh, yes” the Doctor beamed looking at Alyssa and Jenny Yes! Isn't this brilliant?”

“Is that the Source?” Donna asked gesturing to a small glass sphere on a pedestal, shining with gases within.

“It's beautiful” Jenny breathed.

“Yeah, it is”, Alyssa agreed.

“What is it?” Martha asked.

“Terraforming! It's a third generation terraforming device!” the Doctor said delighted. It could be used to change the surface of Messaline to make it habitable for everyone.

“So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?” Donna asked

“Because that’s what it does”, Alyssa said gazing at the sphere.

“Only bigger. Much bigger” the Doctor added “It's in a transit state. Producing all this must help keep it stable before they finally…”

He broke off when the humans and Hath soldiers appear on opposite sides, cocking their as soon as they catch sight of each other. Peck rushed over to the Hath to try and explain what was happening. “Stop! Hold your fire!” the Doctor ordered.

“What is this?” Cobb spat “some kind of trap?”

“You said you wanted this war over”, the Doctor said.

“I want this war _won_ ”, General Cobb said, correcting him.

“You can't win. No one can. You don't even know why you're here. Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers, getting more distorted the more it's passed on” the Doctor gestured to the sphere “This is the Source. This is what you're fighting over. A device to rejuvenate a planet's ecosystem. It's nothing mystical. It's from a laboratory, not some creator. It's a bubble of gases. A cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution. Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids. It's used to make barren planets habitable. Look around you! It's not for killing, it's bringing life” a smile crept onto Alyssa face as she listened to his speech “If you allow it, it can lift you out of these dark tunnels and into the bright, bright sunlight! No more fighting, no more killing” the Doctor picked up the globe “I'm the Doctor, and I declare this war is over!”

The Doctor threw the sphere on the ground, where it smashes, releasing the multitude of gases into the air. Amazed at the sight, the humans and Hath set down their guns with the exception of Cobb.

“What's happening?” Jenny asked.

“The gases will escape and trigger the terraforming process”, the Doctor replied.

“What does that mean?” Jenny asked.

“It means a new world”, the Doctor answered.

Jenny laughs in delight and Alyssa smiled at them, sensing their happiness. Her smile dropped when she picked up something else, something from Cobb. Alyssa looked over, saw him raise his gun and aimed it at the Doctor.

She stepped in front of the Doctor as Cobb fired, crying out as the bullet hit her in the shoulder. She’d tried to knock it off course but due to her head wound, she didn’t change its trajectory that much. “Mum!” Jenny exclaimed as Alyssa collapsed into the Doctor’s arms, the Time Lord wearing a horrified expression on his face.

“I’m sorry…tried to knock it off course…wasn’t enough”, Alyssa gasped as the Doctor sat down on the floor, cradling her. Donna and Jenny knelt next to them both with worried looks on their faces.

“You shouldn’t try to talk Ali”, Martha said as she crouched next to her checking the wound, the young woman whimpering in pain.

“Tell me she’s going to be ok”, the Doctor demanded, his hearts hammering in his chest. Martha didn’t answer him, just kept checking the bullet wound “Martha, please” she looked up at him “tell me she’s going to be ok”

“It doesn’t appear that the bullet struck anything vital”, Martha said shrugging off her jacket and pressing it against the wound causing the woman to cry out “sorry Ali, I’ve got to put pressure on it”, she said apologetically.

“s’ok”, Alyssa mumbled struggling to stay conscious as the pain was excruciating.

“She is going to be ok then?” Jenny asked worried for her mother.

“Yes, she’s going to be fine”, Martha said.

The Doctor felt relieved to hear that “you hear that love?” he asked looking down at Alyssa “You’re going to be fine”.

“Yay”, Alyssa said tiredly closing her eyes. The Doctor looked over at Cobb who by now had been disarmed and restrained.

“Look after her”, he said carefully laying Alyssa down on the floor. Jenny immediately took her father’s place, resting Alyssa’s head in her lap as Martha kept her jacket pressed against the wound. The Doctor turned to Cobb, a dangerous look in his eye as he grabbed the man’s gun. He stood over him and pointed the gun at his head, shocking both humans and Hath alike.

“You _hurt_ her”, the Doctor spat at the man. He was angry…no scratch that…he was beyond angry. He was furious. Alyssa was hurt because she took the bullet meant for him. He’d actually started to pull the trigger until Alyssa spoke

“Don’t” the Doctor turned to look at her while still holding the gun at Cobb.

“Why not? He nearly killed _you_ ”

“If you kill him it’ll make as bad as him. You’re better than that. So please, don’t do it”, Alyssa pleaded.  

The Doctor looked back at Cobb who at least had the decency to look afraid. He held the gun on him for a moment longer before he lowered it. He turned away from Cobb, tossing the gun aside and went back over to Alyssa.


	20. After Messaline

“Ali’s going to be fine Jenny”, Donna said for the tenth time as the blonde continued to pace outside the med bay. As soon as he could, the Doctor rushed Alyssa back to the TARDIS where they were immediately deposited in the med bay. The Time Lord had told Donna and Jenny to wait outside while he and Martha tended to Alyssa’s wounds. That was half an hour ago.

“How can you be so sure?” Jenny asked turning to Donna “you saw how bad the wound was, how much blood she lost”.

“I know it looks bad but trust me Jenny, your mum is going to be just fine. She’s strong and she’s a fighter. And I can assure you between the Doctor, Martha and the TARDIS, Ali is going to make a full recovery”, Donna said confidently. Despite her confidence, Donna was still worried for her fellow red head.

It was ten minutes later when the door opened and Martha walked out “Ali is going to be just fine”, she declared much to the relief of Donna and Jenny. Martha stepped aside to allow Jenny into the med bay. She walked over to her father and gave him a big hug.

“I’m really glad mum’s going to be ok”, she said.

“You and me both”, the Doctor agreed. Jenny moved back and looked at Alyssa who was lying on the hospital bed, unconscious.

 “How long before she wakes up?” Jenny asked.

“I don’t know”, the Doctor replied honestly “could be hours…could be days” and with that he grabbed a chair and settled down into it. Getting the feeling that the Doctor wasn’t going to leave Alyssa’s side until she woke up, Jenny got another chair and sat down next to him. If he was going keep watch over her mother then she was going to do the same.

Seeing this from the doorway, Martha decided that she’d better put the kettle on as this could be a long wait before Alyssa woke up. She walked away and gestured for Donna to follow her. “We’re going to have to keep this going for as long as we can”, Martha said as they prepared two mugs of tea “because neither of them will sleep until Ali has woken up”.

“How long can Time Lord’s stay awake for?” Donna asked pouring out the hot water into the mugs.

“I don’t know but Ali told me once that the Doctor stayed awake for a week after the incident at the sci-tech convention”, Martha replied “even then he apparently looked exhausted when Ali finally woke”.

“So we better keep him and Jenny caffeinated then”, Donna said coming to the conclusion that neither would forgive themselves if something had happened to Alyssa if they fell asleep.

“Exactly”, Martha agreed.

And so began the mission ‘keep the Time Lords awake’.

Two days passed and there was still no sign Alyssa was waking up. However, the next morning Martha was startled, nearly dropping a mug of tea as Jenny burst into the kitchen with a big smile on her face. “She’s awake!” the blonde shouted before running out of room. Martha carefully set down her mug of tea and hurried to the med bay where she met Donna coming the other way, the ginger looking incredibly happy. It seemed that Jenny had told her the very good news as well. The pair entered the med bay to see Alyssa sitting up in bed, a very happy Doctor and Jenny standing there.

“Hey guys”, Alyssa said quietly with a smile on her face too. Donna rushed over and gave her a massive hug. “Uh Donna? I can’t breathe”, the red head gasped out as Donna was squeezing her a bit.

“Sorry Ali. I’m just happy you’re awake”, Donna said apologetically stepping back.

“Me too”, Martha agreed stepping up to give Alyssa a hug as well but making sure to be careful.

“So what are we going to do to celebrate this good news?” Donna asked.

“Well Ali is going to be resting for a bit longer”, the Doctor replied.

“Doctor I’ve been unconscious for two days. I think that’s plenty of rest, don’t you?” Alyssa said not really wanting to be stuck in bed any longer.

“I just don’t think it’s wise for you to be up and about just yet” the Doctor said “I’d like you to stay in bed just for today at least while I run some scans to make sure you’re properly healed”.

Alyssa sighed knowing that it wasn’t going to be any use to argue with him “fine, I’ll stay in bed” she said “but only for today. Tomorrow I would like to take Jenny to meet my mum”.

“Really?” Jenny asked sounding excited at the prospect of meeting another member of her ‘family’.

“Absolutely. I haven’t seen my mum in a bit and it only seems right that I introduce you to her, seeing as she is your grandmother”, Alyssa said earning a big grin from Jenny. “If that’s ok with you Doctor”, she added looking at the Time Lord.

“If the scans say you’re fine, I don’t see why we can’t take Jenny to meet Sarah”, the Doctor said.

“Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Jenny said happily hugging her dad first and then her mum. Then Jenny realised something “you must be starving mum”, she stated. 

“I am rather hungry, now that you mention it”, Alyssa agreed.

“Would you like me to make you something?” Jenny asked.

“That’s kind of you to offer. I think I’ll have…” Alyssa thought for a second “a banana pancake”

“I’d like one too”, Doctor put in. He hadn’t really that much over the last couple of days while he watched over Alyssa.

Jenny nodded “two banana pancakes coming right up”, she said before leaving the room.

“I’ll give her a hand”, Martha said knowing exactly how they were made having watched Alyssa make them a few times during her travels with the pair. Also she had a feeling Jenny wouldn’t know how to make them anyway considering she was only ‘born’ a few days ago. Martha left the med bay, followed by Donna who declared that she could do with some breakfast too. She hadn’t long been up thanks to Jenny coming into her room and waking her up to tell her the good news about Alyssa. Not that she minded being disturbed by the Time Lady as she had been pretty worried about her friend.

“Now that we're alone, there something I've been meaning to do”, the Doctor said.

“What’s that?” Alyssa asked.

“This”, the Doctor said before sitting down on the edge of the bed, cupping her face and kissed her softly on the lips.

“What’s wrong?” Alyssa asked sensing that something was troubling the Doctor when he pulled back.

“I nearly lost you”, he replied quietly “if you hadn’t managed to deflect the bullet…” the Doctor looked away not wanting to think about what could’ve happened if she hadn’t managed to change the trajectory of the bullet.

“But I _did_ and thanks to you and Martha, I’m still here” Alyssa placed a hand over his “Doctor look at me”, she said softly. When the Time Lord did so, she spoke again “I’m not going to leave you, not now. Not ever. And that’s a promise spaceman”

The corners of the Doctor’s mouth twitched up when she called him spaceman “you can’t make a promise like that Ali”, he said seriously. As much as he’d love her to stay with him forever, there was the small matter of her short, compared to his kind, life span.

“And yet I just did”, Alyssa said. She wondered if she should tell him what Twelve said about her still being with him in the future. Although it would reassure him, it _was_ a mention of the future so it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell him. “Didn’t you say you were going to run some scans or something?” she asked wanting to shift the conversation onto something else.

“Yes I did”, the Doctor replied getting out his sonic from his pocket. Alyssa sat still while he scanned her. The Doctor’s eyes widened when he saw the readings on his sonic “this can’t be” he breathed looking up at Alyssa.

“Doctor what is it?” Alyssa asked looking at the Doctor’s expression and wondering if she should be concerned.

The Doctor scanned Alyssa again hoping that he wasn’t just imaging the readings he’d gotten on his sonic. He looked at the sonic again and saw the same readings as before. “Doctor what’s it telling you?” Alyssa asked getting more worried about the way he was staring at his sonic as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The Doctor looked up at her “you’ve got more Time Vortex inside you”, he said. Alyssa’s eyes widened at that.

“How? You said you didn’t use any to heal my wounds”, she said.

“I don’t know how. But that’s what it’s telling me”, the Doctor said.

“Is it harming me at all?” Alyssa asked.

“As far as I can tell, no it’s not. Thankfully”, the Doctor replied. Alyssa relaxed at that assurance.

“Good. So that means we can go see my mum tomorrow, right?” Alyssa asked.

“Yes we can”, the Doctor answered earning a smile from Alyssa.

Just then the door opened and Jenny came in carrying two plates, followed by Donna and Martha. “You look happy”, Donna commented noting the look on Alyssa face.

“I am. The Doctor scanned me and I’m perfectly fine!” Alyssa said cheerfully.

“So that means I get to see my grandmother tomorrow?” Jenny asked, eyes shining with excitement.

“Absolutely”, Alyssa said earning a whoop of excitement from the blonde.

Once the Doctor had finished his pancake, he excused himself stating he had some work to the on the TARDIS. He stood in the console room, staring at the readings from the sonic which he’d put on the scanner. If these readings were a shock to him, they were going to be an even bigger shock to Alyssa. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to keep this from her for long. But how in the universe was he to tell his girlfriend that she wasn’t complelety human anymore?


	21. Jenny meet your grandmother

“Here we are! My house”, Alyssa said stopping by the path.

“You ok Jenny?” the Doctor asked seeing how nervous Jenny was.

“Not really”, Jenny replied “What if Sarah doesn’t like me?”

“Honey, you’ve got nothing to worry about. My mother is going to love you!”  Alyssa assured her “come on!” without waiting for a reply, she started up the path.

“She’ll love me even though I’m not…human?” Jenny asked.

“Sarah won’t care if you’re not human. She was ok with it when I told her I wasn’t human”, the Doctor said “also it didn’t hurt when I told her how much I loved Ali”. Jenny felt rather assured by the fact that Sarah had accepted that the Doctor wasn’t human. “Just be yourself Jenny”, the Doctor added “and I uh wouldn’t mention that fact that Ali got shot when we tell her about how you were ‘born’. I don’t want Sarah to think I’m not keeping my word in trying to keep Ali safe”.

“I won’t dad”, Jenny promised. They walked up path to where Alyssa was waiting for them by the front door.

“You ready Jenny?” Alyssa asked.

“Yep”, Jenny confirmed. Alyssa unlocked the front door with her key and opened it.

“Mum! I’m home!” she called.

Sarah walked out into the hall and smiled, seeing her daughter “hello sweetheart”, she greeted. Alyssa ran forward and hugged her tightly.

“Are you ok? I meant to call and warn about the toxic gas but I didn’t and I’m so, so sorry. Please fo-“ Alyssa was cut off from her rambling by her mother putting a finger on her lips.

“It’s ok Ali. I understand why you didn’t call, you were probably busy helping the Doctor save the world”, Sarah said.

“Yes she was”, the Doctor confirmed.

“And in answer to your question, yes I’m fine. I barricaded myself in your room, blocked up as much of the cracks as possible and waited it out”, Sarah explained. Alyssa was pleased to hear that her mother hadn’t been harmed by the gas. Sarah looked over her daughter’s shoulder at the blonde woman standing next to the Doctor. “Who’s this?” she asked stepping away from Alyssa.

“This is Jenny. Our daughter”, the Doctor replied.

“Hi”, Jenny said politely as Sarah stared at her, mouth slightly open.

“Uh why don’t we sit down?” Alyssa suggested picking up on her mother’s mixed emotions. One of them being shock.

“Yeah, good idea sweetie”, Sarah said. Alyssa took her mother’s arm and led her into the living room. She sat her mother down on the sofa while Jenny and the Doctor took the armchairs. “So…you’re a mother now”, Sarah stated still trying to get her mind around the that her daughter, her 24 year old daughter had a grown up child of her own. How was it even possible?

“Kind of”, Alyssa said “I think its best if we explain”. And so she proceeded to tell her mother about the unexpected trip to Messaline. The Doctor and Jenny also contributed to the story. Staying true to her promise, Jenny didn’t mention Alyssa being shot. Neither did the Doctor nor the red head in question.

“Let me get this straight. Jenny was created by this machine thing you mentioned and the Doctor’s DNA”, Sarah said once the trio had finished the story.

“That’s right”, Alyssa said.

“So that makes her biologically the Doctor’s. But how are you her mother?” Sarah asked. She wasn’t asking it in a rude way, she just wanted to understand.

“Well I just assumed she was because of her relationship to my dad”, Jenny replied “he and Donna seemed to agree….”

“And when she explained the reason why she called me mum, it seemed to make sense”, Alyssa added “plus I was honoured that she would consider me her mother. So I now have a grown up daughter”. Alyssa placed a hand over Sarah’s “I also kinda told her that you were her grandmother. But it’s your choice mum”

Sarah looked at her daughter then over at Jenny. The young woman shyly smiled at her and she made her choice. Sarah stood up “Jenny could you stand up please?” she asked.

“Uh sure”, Jenny said and got to her feet. The Doctor and Alyssa watched as Sarah walked over to the blonde Time Lady and gave her a hug.

“Welcome to the family Jenny Palmer!” Sarah said. Jenny beamed at the fact that Sarah had not only acknowledged her as family but she also gave her a last name too!

The Doctor and Alyssa exchanged happy looks at that declaration. “I think we need to do something to celebrate Jenny’s adoption into our family”, Alyssa said.

“Good idea”, Sarah agreed.

“How about a family dinner?” the Doctor suggested. All three women agreed with that suggestion wholeheartedly.

\----------------------------

After a quick trip to the store, Alyssa headed into the kitchen to start preparing the dinner. She’d not long gotten into it when Jenny stuck her head in the door “need any help mum?” she asked.

“I’m ok thanks Jenny”, Alyssa replied “but you can keep me company if you like”, she quickly added seeing Jenny’s disappointed look. The Time Lady instantly brightened and properly entered the kitchen. As Alyssa cooked she and Jenny had a steady stream of conversation which ranged quite a few topics. Some the red head was embarrassed by as it seemed her mother had decided to show Jenny the family photo albums in particular the ones that showed Alyssa as a child.

“You know, I saw a lot of photos of you with a blonde girl”, Jenny said “Ellie, I believe that’s what Sarah called her”. Alyssa involuntarily tensed up at the name. She didn’t mean to, it was just that the mention of her best friend reminded her that she wasn’t there anymore. That loss was still pretty fresh for Alyssa even though it had been about a year or so since Ellie had been killed.

“Ellie Johnson. She was my best friend”, Alyssa said.

“Was? You mean you guys aren’t friends any more or…?” Jenny trailed off seeing the sad look on her mother’s face “oh mum. I’m sorry”, she said apologetically.

“It’s ok Jenny”, Alyssa said. She took a breath “I met Ellie when I was 11 years old. It was my first day a secondary school. I was so nervous but when Ellie sat down next to me in class and we introduced ourselves…we just clicked. By the end of the day it was almost like we’d been friends for years rather than a day” Jenny listened as Alyssa continued to tell her stories about her best friend while she cooked the dinner. Unknown to either of them, the Doctor was standing in the doorway watching them talk with a smile on his face. He was glad to see that they were bonding.

“What about your bracelet? Is there a story behind that?” Jenny asked wanting to know more about her mother’s life.

“There’s quite a few stories behind my bracelet. It’s my most prized possession. I call it my bracelet of special memories”, Alyssa said moving the pans off the heat and covering them with sauce pan lids to keep the stuff inside warm while she explained her bracelet to Jenny. She took it off and laid it onto the counter displaying all the charms. 

“My parents gave this to me with this ice skate charm when I completed all four levels of Skate Tots. I was about 5", she said pointing to an ice skate. She then touched the half Purple Heart charm with the word ‘best’ on it. "This half heart I got from Ellie. She had the other half. For prom we gave each other shoe charms” she gestured to the blue high heeled shoe “When I graduated my mum gave me this silver brush” Alyssa touched the silver paint brush “Gran gave me this granddaughter charm for my 16th birthday. My 18st I received this birthstone charm from my mum", she explained showing Jenny the other three charms.

“Wow that’s a lot of memories”, Jenny remarked.

“Yep”, Alyssa agreed putting it back on “now, would you like to give me a hand dishing up?” she asked.

“Absolutely!” Jenny replied. Alyssa took off the lids from the pans while Jenny got out the plates. Between the two of them, they dished up four portions of spaghetti Bolognese.

\----------------------------

“You’ll stop by again soon, right?” Sarah asked as she hugged her daughter.

“Of course I will mum, I promise”, Alyssa said.

Sarah moved on to the Doctor and hugged him too “you take care of yourself and my daughter”, she said.

“I will”, the Doctor promised.

Sarah then hugged Jenny “I’m glad to have met you Sarah”, Jenny said.

“Me too”, Sarah agreed. She moved back slightly to look at Jenny “You’re family Jenny so you are more than welcome to stay here anytime for as long as you want”.

Jenny smiled and hugged Sarah again “thanks grandma!” she said happily.

“You’re quite welcome honey”, Sarah said. The red head stood at the doorway and waved to the trio as they walked down the path.


	22. The Unicorn and the Wasp part 1

A wheezing noise sounded in the garden of an English manor as the TARDIS materialised. The Doctor stepped out followed by Alyssa and Donna. “Oh, smell that air”, the Doctor said inhaling deeply “Grass and lemonade…and a little bit of mint. A hint of mint. Must be the 1920s”.

“You can tell what year it is just by smelling?” Donna asked.

“Oh, yeah!” the Doctor said.

“Or maybe that big vintage car coming up the drive gave it away”, Alyssa said nodding to it. The Doctor led them off to the side so that they could watch what was going on without being noticed.

“The Professor's baggage, Richard”, the butler, Greeves ordered “Step lively!”

Richard Davenport, the young footman who’d come out from the house with Greeves headed over to the Professor’s car to collect the luggage. The driver, an older man steps out of the car and removes his goggles. “Good afternoon, Professor Peach”, Greeves greeted politely as the Professor walks towards him.

“Hello, Greeves, old man”, Professor Peach said as a vicar rode up on his bicycle. “Ah, Reverend!” the Professor said noticing him.

 “Professor Peach. Beautiful day”, the vicar got off his bike “The Lord's in his heaven, all's right with the world”.

“Reverend Golightly”, Greeves greeted “Lady Eddison requests you make yourselves comfortable in your rooms. Cocktails will be served on the lawn from half past four”, he told him.

“You go on up. I need check something in the library”, Professor Peach said.

“Oh?” Reverend Golightly asked.

“Alone”

“It's supposed to be a party. All this work will be the death of you”, Reverend Golightly remarked before he headed inside. 

“Never mind Planet Zog. A party in the 1920s, that's more like it”, Donna said rather excited.

“The trouble is, we haven't been invited” the Doctor reminded her before he reached into his coat pocket “Oh, I forgot…” he pulled out the psychic paper “Yes, we have”.

“You do realise that we can’t simply wander in dressed like this. Especially not us girls”, Alyssa commented. Donna grinned, grabbed her wrist and pulled her away. “Donna you’re pulling my arm out of its socket!” Alyssa exclaimed as the ginger dragged her along back to the TARDIS.

\------------------

The Doctor knocked on the TARDIS door, slightly impatient. Alyssa and Donna had been in there for quite some time now. “We'll be late for cocktails!” he called. The door opened, Alyssa stepped out and the Doctor’s hearts stopped.

She was wearing a light pink dress with an elegant scoop neckline decorated with tiny shiny glass beads and silver/light pink sequins. The dress stopped just below her knees and on her feet where a matching pair shoes with a small heel. Her normal wavy hair was curled and partially pinned back. As per usual her charm bracelet adorned her left wrist.

“You look beautiful”, he commented.

Alyssa lightly blushed “thanks”, she said. The door opened again and Donna stepped out in her 1920’s regalia, a brown and black flapper dress.

“What do you think? Flapper or slapper?” Donna asked wanting their opinion.

“Flapper”, the Doctor replied “You look lovely”. He held out his arm to Alyssa who took it. They and Donna made their way to the lawn where the party was being held.

“Good afternoon!” the Doctor greeted politely.

“Drinks, sir? Madams?” Davenport asked stepping up to them.

“Sidecar, please”, Donna replied.

“And a lime and soda, thank you”, the Doctor answered. 

“I’ll have a water please”, Alyssa said. Davenport nodded and walked off.

“May I announce Lady Clemency Eddison!” Greeves called as the woman in question made an appearance.

“Lady Eddison”, the Doctor greeted as if she was an old friend.

“Forgive me, but who exactly might you be…and what are you doing here?” Lady Eddison asked having not recognised him or the two women.

“I'm the Doctor”, the Doctor said introducing himself “this is my lovely wife Alyssa and her sister Miss Donna Noble…of the Chiswick Nobles”.

Donna curtseyed “Good afternoon, my lady”, she said in a posh accent “Topping day, what? Spiffing. Top hole”. Alyssa just about refrained from making a face at her accent.

“No, no, no, no, no. No, don't do that. Don't”, the Doctor said in a hushed voice. He got out the psychic paper and presents it to Lady Eddison. “We were thrilled to receive your invitation, my lady”, he said smoothly “We met at the Ambassador's reception”.

The woman’s eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten him and Alyssa “Doctor, how could I forget you and your wife? But one must be sure with the Unicorn on the loose”, Lady Eddison said.

The Doctor brightened “A unicorn? Brilliant! Where?” Donna and Alyssa exchanged amused glances when he _actually_ looked around for the creature.

“ _The_ Unicorn. The jewel thief”, Lady Eddison said correcting him “Nobody knows who he is. He's just struck again. Snatched Lady Babbington's pearls right from under her nose”.

“Funny place to wear pearls”, Donna remarked taking her drink from the footman. The Doctor and Alyssa did the same.

Greeves announced two more people, one a young man and the other and older man in a wheelchair. “May I announce Colonel Hugh Curbishley, the Honourable Roger Curbishley”

“My husband, and my son”, Lady Eddison added as her son wheeled his father over to them.

“Forgive me for not rising”, Hugh said apologetically “Never been the same ever since that flu epidemic back in eighteen”.

“My word, you are a super lady”, Rodger remarked looking at Donna “as are you”, he added shifting his gaze to Alyssa.

“Hello. I'm the Doctor”, the Doctor abruptly said holding his hand out to Roger. Alyssa raised an eyebrow at the flash of jealousy she’d sensed from him.

“How do you do?” Rodger said shaking his hand, the Time Lord using a bit more force than necessary.

“Very well”, the Doctor let go of his hand “Oh and this is my wife Alyssa”, he added. He was pleased to see the slightly disappointed look on Rodger’s face but it was gone when Davenport stepped up with a drinks tray.

“Your usual, sir?” he asked.

“Ah. Thank you, Davenport”, Rodger took the drink “Just how I like it”.

“How come she's an Eddison, but her husband and son are Curbishleys?” Donna asked quietly as Rodger walked away.

“The Eddison title descends through her. One day Roger will be a lord”, The Doctor explained, equally quietly.

“Robina Redmond”, Greeves announced as a brunette woman made an appearance.

“She's the absolute hit of the social scene. A must”, Lady Eddison informed the Doctor, Donna and Alyssa. The blonde turned and greeted Robina “Miss Redmond!”

They shake hands. “Spiffing to meet you at last, my lady”, Robina said “What super fun!” Lady Eddison gestured over to her son and Robina wandered over to him.

“Reverend Arnold Golightly”, Greeves announced as the Reverend entered the garden.

“Ah, Reverend. How are you?” Lady Eddison asked “I heard about the church last Thursday night. Those ruffians breaking in”.

“You apprehended them, I hear”, Hugh added. Alyssa eyed the Reverend as he stood there. There was something… she didn’t know what but there was something not quite right about him. She could feel it. 

“As the Christian Fathers taught me, we must forgive them their trespasses”, Reverend Golightly joked “Quite literally”. Alyssa relaxed and reached out with her gifts.

“No”, she breathed staring at the Reverend with wide eyes, the glass falling from her hand.

“Ali what’s wrong?” the Doctor asked looking at her worriedly. He like the others had been startled be the sound of glass breaking and when he turned to Alyssa, she looked very pale.

“I…I…Don’t…excuse me”, Alyssa turned and quickly fled.

“My wife isn’t feeling very well”, the Doctor explained earning a sympathetic look from Lady Eddison “I better make sure she’s ok. Excuse us”. With that the Doctor and Donna left.

\------------------------------------

The Doctor managed to catch up with the fleeing red head. He reached out and gently grasped her arm forcing her to stop running. “You sensed something didn’t you?” he asked. Alyssa nodded, still shaken up. The Doctor noticed a bench nearby and led her over to it. “I know whatever it was scared you but can you tell me what you sensed?” the Doctor asked.

Alyssa swallowed “it’s hard to describe. It was similar to what I sensed from Lazarus only not as bad”, she said.

The Doctor was about to ask her something when Donna ran up very out of breath. “Blimey, you can run spaceman”, she remarked “you ok Ali?” she asked.

“Not at the moment but I will be”, Alyssa replied honestly.

“Ali who-“ the Doctor began but was cut off when a scream sounded. It was coming from the direction of the house.

“The professor! The Library! Murder! Murder!”

“I’ll tell you later”, Alyssa said getting up “we better see what’s happened”. The Doctor stood up too and the trio hurried off back towards the house.

~Library~

The Doctor enters the room followed by Donna, Alyssa and Agatha Christie.  The Time Lord hurried over to the body, taking out his glasses as he did so.

“Oh, my goodness”, Greeves gasped coming up behind them.

“Bashed on the head”, the Doctor reported as he examined the body “Blunt instrument. Watch broke as he fell” he checked the watch on the Professor’s wrist “Time of death was quarter past four”. The Doctor stood up and started looking through the papers on the desk.

Alyssa noted the pipe by the Professor’s body “A bit of pipe”, she said.

“Call me Hercules Poirot, but I reckon that's blunt enough”, Donna murmured quietly to her, Alyssa nodding in agreement.

“The Professor…in the library…with the lead piping… “Alyssa muttered “call me crazy but it’s almost like the game Cludo”. As she spoke, Agatha picked something up from the grate. The action going unnoticed the by girls but the Doctor had seen it.

“Yeah, you’re right Ali”, Donna agreed seeing exactly what she meant.

“Nothing worth killing for in that lot. Dry as dust”, the Doctor declared having finished looking through the papers.

“Let me see!” came lady Eddison’s voice from the hallway before she entered the room closely followed by the others. Alyssa moved away from the body over to the Doctor. He took her hand, seeing how uneasy she looked when Lady Eddison and her guests arrived. 

“Gerald?” she gasped seeing the Professor’s body.

“Saints preserve us”, Reverend Golightly whispered.

“Oh how awful”, Robina remarked.

“Someone should call the police”, Agatha stated.

“You don't have to”, the Doctor spoke up. He took out his psychic paper “Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard, known as the Doctor with my wife Alyssa. Miss Noble is the plucky young girl who helps me out”.

“I say”, Lady Eddison said staring at the paper.

“Miss…sorry what’s your name?” the Doctor asked looking at Agatha.

“Agatha Christie”, Agatha replied. The Doctor, Donna and Alyssa were surprised that they were in the presence of THE Agatha Christie, famous author of many amazing books. The Doctor quickly masked his surprise “Mrs Christie was right. Go into the sitting room. I will question each of you in turn”

“Come along. Do as the Doctor says. Leave the room undisturbed”, Agatha said ushering everyone out of the room.

“’The plucky young girl who helps me out’?” Donna scoffed as the Doctor laid down on the floor, examining it.

“No policewomen in the 1920’s”, the Doctor replied.

“I'll pluck you in a minute”, Donna said “Why don't we phone the real police?” she asked.

“Well the last thing we want is PC Plod sticking his nose in, especially now I've found this” the Doctor scraped some gunk off the floor “Morphic residue”. He got to his feet and showed the girls the gunk he’d scraped off the floor.

“Morphic?” Donna frowned “Doesn't sound very 1920’s”.

 “It's left behind when certain species genetically re-encode”, the Doctor explained.

“The murderer's an alien?” Donna asked.

“Which means one of that lot is an alien in human form”, the Doctor answered. He looked at Alyssa and she nodded. 

“Yeah, but think about it. There's a murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie”, Donna said.

“So?” the Doctor sniffed the residue “Happens to me all the time”.

“No, but isn't that a bit weird?” Donna asked “Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders. Not really. I mean, that's like meeting Charles Dickens and he's surrounded by ghosts at Christmas”.

“Well…” the Doctor began and Alyssa started to smile, remembering that story the Doctor had told her about Charles Dickens and the Gelth.  

“Oh, come on!” Donna exclaimed “It's not like we could drive across country and find Enid Blyton having tea with Noddy. Could we? Noddy's not real. Is he? Tell me there's no Noddy”.

“There's no Noddy”, the Doctor told her before turning and heading out of the room. Donna and Alyssa followed him, the ginger talking as she did so.

“Next thing you know, you'll be telling me it's like  _Murder On The Orient Express_ , and they all did it”

“Murder on the Orient Express?” Agatha asked, stepping out of an alcove at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ooo, yeah. One of your best”, Donna replied.

“Not yet Donna”, Alyssa said.

“Marvellous idea, though”, Agatha said.

“Yeah, tell you what, Copyright: Donna Noble, okay?”

“Anyway!” the Doctor interrupted “Agatha and I will question the suspects. Donna, you and Ali search the bedrooms”. The Doctor knew that Alyssa’s gift would help with the questioning of the suspects but she’d also been very shaken up by whatever she’d sensed from one of them. Hence why he’d suggested that she went with Donna.  “Look for clues”, he continued “Any more residue”, he added quietly “You'll need this”. Much to surprise of Donna and Alyssa he took out a large magnifying glass from his jacket pocket.

“Is that for real?” Donna asked eyebrows raised.

“Go on”, the Doctor grinned “You're ever so plucky”. Not too pleased, Donna took the magnifying glass and headed upstairs.

“Keep calling her plucky and she might slap you”, Alyssa warned before she too headed up the stairs.

The Doctor turned to Agatha “Right then! Solving a murder mystery with Agatha Christie, brilliant!” he said cheerfully.

“How like a man to have fun, while there's disaster all around him”, Agatha remarked.

“Sorry”, the Doctor said apologetically.

“I'll work with you, gladly, but for the sake of justice, not your own amusement”, Agatha continued.

“Yeah”


	23. The Unicorn and the Wasp part 2

Alyssa and Donna went from room to room not really finding anything of interest. The pair left a bedroom and headed over to another wooden door. Donna tried it and discovered that it was locked. “Locked. Shame we don’t have a sonic screwdriver”, she commented.

“We may not have a sonic but we’ve got something just as good”, Alyssa said.

“What’s that?” Donna asked.

“Me”, Alyssa replied “if I can stop bullets, I can open a simple door”. She moved to the lock, placed her hand on it closing her eyes as she did so. A moment later they heard a click. Alyssa opened her eyes “viola”, she said and Donna grinned at her.

She was about to open the door when Greeves suddenly appeared behind them. “You won't find anything in there”, he said.

“I think we’ll be the judge of that”, Donna said.

“You won’t even be able to get in the room, it’s locked”, Greeves continued.

“No it’s not”, Alyssa said and opened the door. It was a bedroom complete with a vanity. There was also some shelving and a fireplace. The strange thing about it was that the room was covered in dust and cobwebs. “How long has the room been out of use?” Alyssa asked turning to Greeves.

“40 years”, Greeves replied “Lady Eddison stayed in this room for 6 months while she recovered from Malaria which she got in India. Since then, the room has remained undisturbed”, he explained.

“All right, Ali and I need to investigate”, Donna said to Greeves “You just…butle off” and with that she closed the door on Greeves.

“Butle off?” Alyssa asked with an amused look. Donna just ignored her and started to have a look around the room. Alyssa did the same. They hadn’t been looking long when they heard a buzzing sound.

“1920’s and they’ve still got bees”, Donna grumbled “Oh, what a noise. All right, busy bee, I'll let you out. Hold on, I shall find you with my amazing powers of detection”.

Alyssa shook her head as Donna raised the magnifying glass and walked over to the draped window. She peered through it as she opened the drapes to reveal a giant wasp! Alyssa grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her back as the wasp smashed through the glass.

“That's impossible”, Donna breathed staring at it wide eyed. It flew towards them but was halted in mid-air by Alyssa.

“Get out Donna!” Alyssa shouted at her, keeping all her focus on the wasp.

“What about you?” Donna asked.

“I’ll be right behind you, just go!”

Donna didn’t hesitate to run when she told her a second time. She darted to the door, pulled it open and left. “Doctor! Ali’s in trouble!” she shouted as loud as she could. From inside the room, Alyssa flung the giant wasp out of the broken window and ran for it. She slammed the door shut just in time as a mere moment later a large stinger is jammed through the door.

Alyssa leant against the wall, rubbing her head. “Donna! Ali!” the Doctor shouted as he came running up with Agatha. “What happened?” he demanded “you used them again, didn’t you?” he asked noticing Alyssa rubbing her head.

“Yeah I did”, she admitted.

“Oh, Ali” he sighed “you know it hurts whenever you do”.

“Doctor she had good reason to. There was a giant wasp”, Donna said coming to the defence of her friend.

The Doctor frowned “What do you mean, a giant wasp?”

“I mean, a wasp that's giant!” Donna said.

“It's only a silly little insect”, Agatha said.

“There was a giant wasp”, Alyssa spoke up “its stinger is still in the door” she pointed to it.

“Let me see”, the Doctor said and opened the door to the bedroom. The wasp was no longer there. “It's gone” he declared “Buzzed off”.

“But that's fascinating…” Agatha remarked bending down to inspect the stinger.

“D-D-D-Don't touch it! Don't touch it! Let me…” the Doctor scooped some of the gunk from the stinger into a test tube with a pencil. “Giant wasp. Well, tons of amorphous insectivorous lifeforms, but none in this galactic vector”.   
“I think I understood some of those words. Enough to know that you're completely potty”, Agatha remarked eyeing the man.

“Lost its sting, though. That makes it defenceless”, Donna pointed out.

“It probably could grow a new one”, Alyssa suggested.

“She’s right”, the Doctor agreed.

“Can we return to sanity?” Agatha asked “There are no such things as giant wasps”.

“Exactly. So, the question is, what's it doing here?”

The four of them left the room and had started down the stairs when they heard a scream. The Doctor, Donna, Alyssa and Agatha raced down the stairs and out of the house. As soon as they came out, they discovered the housekeeper Miss Chandrakala crushed by a gargoyle. “The poor…little…child”, the woman breathed before she died.

The Doctor heard a loud buzz and looked up to see the giant wasp already with a new stinger. It flies off and they all run back into the house.

 **“** Hey, this makes a change. There's a monster, and we're chasing it!” Donna remarked as they sprinted up the stairs. Alyssa trying to shake off the dizziness she was feeling as she ran.

“It can't be a monster” Agatha insisted “It's a trick. They do it with mirrors!”

That’s what she was saying until they reached the top of the stairs and saw the giant wasp. “By all that's holy…” she gasped.

“Oh, but you are wonderful!” the Doctor breathed, beaming as the wasp faced him. His smile faded when he saw that it was preparing its stinger, realising that Alyssa was next to him. “Now, just stop….” He ordered “stop there”

The wasp just ignored him and rushed at them. Using her powers, Alyssa flung the wasp away but in doing so, it made her dizziness worse. “Ali!” the Doctor exclaimed as she swayed, dropping to her knees. He dropped down next to her as the wasp flew at them again. Alyssa diverted it over their heads, groaning as she did so.

The wasp didn’t try to attack them for a third time, instead it retreated. “Go after it Doctor”, Alyssa panted.

“Ali I can’t leave you like this”, the Doctor said.

“I’ll stay with her Doctor”, Donna spoke up kneeling down beside them.

“Thank you”, the Doctor said. He dropped a kiss on top of Alyssa’s head. “Come on Agatha” he said getting up. The pair rushed off after the wasp while Donna stayed by Alyssa.

“Donna…I’m tired”, Alyssa whispered leaning against the ginger.

“You rest then Ali”, Donna said “I’m going anywhere”.

“Thank you”, Alyssa said and closed her eyes.

When Alyssa came to, she found herself laying on the sofa in what appears to be a sitting room. The Doctor was pacing up at down nearby.

“Doctor”, she called getting his attention.

“Ali”, he said coming over and kneeling down by the sofa “how are you feeling?”

“Head still hurts a little”, Alyssa answered honestly.

“After this is all finished, I’m going to make sure that you get plenty of rest”, the Doctor said. Alyssa could tell by the tone of his voice and his emotions that he meant it.

“I’m not going to complain to that. As long as you’ll keep me company Doctor”, Alyssa said.

“Course I will”, the Doctor promised “Ali I was wondering…” he was interrupted by Agatha and Donna coming into the room. The writer with a black case in her hands.

“Ali! You’re awake”, Donna said happily.

“Yep I am”, Alyssa replied.

“You feeling any better Alyssa?” Agatha asked.

“A bit better thanks”, Alyssa answered “what’s that you’ve got?” she asked nodding to the case in Agatha’s hands.

“Don’t know. We found it in a flower bed”, Agatha replied holding it out. The Doctor stood up and took it. He placed the case on the table and opened it up.

“Oh! Someone came here tooled up”, the Doctor commented “The sort of stuff a thief would use”.

“The Unicorn. He's here”, Agatha breathed.

“The Unicorn and the wasp….” The Doctor murmured.

Greeves entered the room carrying a tray with four drinks on it “Your drinks, ladies, Doctor”, he said.

“Very good, Greeves”, the Doctor thanked him as they took their drinks. The butler then leaves and the Doctor, Donna and Agatha sat down. The women taking the arm chairs while the Time Lord sat next to Alyssa.

“How about the science stuff. What did you find?” Donna asked.

The Doctor took out a test tube from his pocket “Vespiform sting”, he replied “Vespiforms have got hives in the Silfrax galaxy”.

“Again, you talk like Edward Lear”, Agatha remarked.

“And for some reason this alien is behaving like a character in one of your books Agatha”, Alyssa said as the Doctor took a sip of his drink.

“Come on, Agatha” Donna looked at her “What would Miss Marple do?” she asked “She'd have overheard something vital by now, because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady”.

“Clever idea”, Agatha said “Miss Marple? Who writes those?”

 _You done it again Donna_ Alyssa thought shaking her head with a smile.

“Er, Copyright: Donna Noble. Add it to the list”, Donna said.

Alyssa frowned sensing something from the Doctor. It was something bad “Doctor, are you ok?” she asked.

“No Ali”, he replied “Something's inhibiting my enzymes. Argh!” the Doctor cried out, Alyssa wincing slightly as she felt his pain “I've been poisoned!”

“What do we do? What do we do?” Donna asked panicking while Alyssa looked at the Doctor extremely worried.

Agatha picked up his glass and sniffed it “Bitter almonds. Its cyanide”, she said gravely. The Doctor got to his feet and stumbled out of the room, the three women following.

~Kitchen~

The Doctor fell into the kitchen and grabbed Davenport, startling the poor man.  “Ginger beer!” he shouted.

“I beg your pardon?” Davenport asked.

“I need ginger beer”, the Doctor repeated rushing to the shelves, knocking stuff off in his hasty search for the drink.

“The gentleman's gone mad!” Mrs Hart exclaimed. The Doctor managed to find the ginger beer and chugged it down, pouring some of it over his head.

“I'm an expert in poisons. Doctor, there's no cure. It's fatal”, Agatha informed him.

“Not for me. I can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal…” the Doctor explained “Protein! I need protein!” He leant against the worktop, panting in agony while Alyssa, Donna and Agatha search through the kitchen supplies.

“Walnuts?” Donna said grabbing a jar and holding them out to him.

“Brilliant!” the Doctor opened the jar and shovelled them into his mouth. As his mouth was full he could only mime with his hands what he needed next.

“I can't understand you”, Donna said “Ali, can’t you talk to him in your head?”

“I’m not telepathic Donna. I can’t talk….” Alyssa’s eyes widened when Donna’s suggestion gave her an idea “Doctor can you send me an image of what you need?” Alyssa asked “like we’ve done before?”

The Doctor nodded as he chewed the walnuts. He closed his eyes and Alyssa did the same. Her face scrunched up as she focused on opening her mind. An image of a salt shaker appeared. “Salt! He needs salt!” she said opening her eyes.

“What about this?” Donna asked snatching up a brown bag.

“What is it?” the Doctor having managed to swallow the last of the walnuts he’d crammed into his mouth.

“Salt”, Donna replied.

The Doctor shook his head “No, too salty”, he said.

“Oh, that's too salty”, Donna said mimicking him.

“What about this?” Agatha asked holding out a jar.

“What's that?” Donna asked.

“Anchovies”, Agatha replied. The Doctor snatched the jar from her hand and downed the contents. As he chewed, the Doctor gestured again, flashing his hands. Alyssa frowned trying to work out what he was trying to say. It looked like he was miming…shock?

“Shock”, Alyssa said “you need a shock”. The Doctor nodded. “Ok”, she said before she grabbed his lapels, smashed her lips against his, kissing him long and hard. Alyssa pulled back, letting him go. A fraction of a second later, the Doctor threw his head back, a black cloud of smoke leaving his mouth.

“Detox”, he groaned wiping his mouth “I must do that more often”.

“What, get poisoned?” Donna asked staring at him as if he were mad.

“I meant the detox”, the Doctor replied “but that kiss was pretty spectacular too”, he added looking at a rather relieved Alyssa “you wouldn’t happen to have another one of those love? Still feeling a bit weak”.

Alyssa smiled “I think I may have another”, she said stepping towards him. She cupped his face and kissed him again. The Doctor placed his hands of her hips, tugging her even closer to him.

Donna watched them kiss, her inner self jumping up and down in joy. She absolutely loved seeing them together. There never was a more perfect couple, in her opinion. Anyone who wanted to tear them apart would have to deal with her.

\----------------------------

~Dining room~

That night there was a thunderstorm as everyone gathered for dinner. “A terrible day for all of us”, the Doctor began “The Professor struck down, Miss Chandrakala taken cruelly from us…and yet we still take dinner”.

“We are British, Doctor”, Lady Eddison stated “What else must we do?”

“And then someone tried to poison my husband”, Alyssa added looking around at them all, her gaze lingering on the Reverend half a second longer than all the others “Any one of you had the chance to put cyanide in his drink”.  

“But it rather gave me an idea”, the Doctor put in.

“And what would that be?” Reverend Golightly asked.

“Well…poison”, the Doctor replied as everyone stopped eating “Drink up! I've laced the soup with pepper”.

“Ah, I thought it was jolly spicy”, Hugh chuckled.

“But the active ingredient of pepper is piperine, traditionally used as an insecticide”, the Doctor continued “So, anyone got the shivers?”

Thunder crashed once more and the windows burst open, the gust of wind extinguishing the candles. The room was plunged into darkness.

“What the deuce is that!” Hugh shouted.

“Listen…” the Doctor called hearing something “listen, listen, listen!”

A loud buzz echoed throughout the room. “No…it can't be!” Lady Eddison cried

“Show yourself, demon!” Agatha demanded standing up.

“Nobody move!” the Doctor shouted as everyone started to move “No, don't! Stay where you are”.

The Vespiform showed itself sending everyone into a panic. “Everyone out! Now!” Alyssa shouted and they all scattered. She was going to use her powers when the Doctor grabbed her by the arm.

“Not this time”, he said and pulled her out of the room.

“Well, we know the butler didn't do it”, Donna said as they joined herself, Agatha and Greeves.

“Then who did?” the Doctor asked. He went back into the room but not before grabbing a sword that hung on the panelled wall. As soon as he came back in, the lights flickered to life.

It turned out that no one else had left the room. Robina was still in her chair though she looked rather shocked. Hugh was on the floor, his wheelchair also knocked over. The Reverend was close by, sitting down against the wall. Davenport was crouched down, huddled by the side table where a drinks tray was and Lady Eddison was still sitting at the head of the table.

Alyssa’s gaze wasn’t on the frightened guests, it was on the dead body of Rodger. He was lying face down in his soup, large knife in his back. 

“My jewellery!”  Lady Eddison cried touching her neck “The Firestone, it's gone. Stolen!”

“Roger…” Davenport said in horror having just noticed what Alyssa had seen.

Lady Eddison slowly got up, her eyes fixed on her son’s body. She couldn’t believe it. Her own son dead, killed by that horrible creature. “Oh, my son…” she breathed, making her way over to his body, tears in her eyes “…my child”. 


	24. The Unicorn and the Wasp part 3

The mood was rather a sombre one as they all gathered in the drawing room. The Doctor stood in front of the group, eyeing them all. He’d had about enough of all these murders and wanted this adventure to be over. “I've called you here on this endless night, because we have a murderer in our midst”, he began “And when it comes to detection, there's none finer. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…Agatha Christie”.

The Doctor turned, walked to the side of the room and sat down beside Alyssa on a small padded bench. Donna was on her other side. Agatha moved to stand in the spot that the Doctor had occupied.

“This is a crooked house”, she said “A house of secrets. To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you…” Agatha paused, looking in the direction of Lady Eddison before shifting her gaze to Robina “Miss Redmond”. The writer then revealed that the brunette woman was not who she claimed to be, she was an imposter. Not only was ‘Robina’ an imposter but she was also the infamous thief, the Unicorn. 

“Oh, all right then. It's a fair cop”, Robina said in a cockney accent as she stood up “Yes, I'm the bleeding Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think. I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it. Go on then, you knobs. Arrest me. Sling me in jail!”

Robina pulls out the Firestone from inside her dress and tosses it to the Doctor. “So, is she the murderer?” Donna asked as the brunette sat back down.

Alyssa shook her head “she’s only a thief Donna”, she said “she isn’t a killer”.

“Quite”, Agatha agreed “There are darker motives at work. And in examining this household, we come to you….” Agatha eyed Lady Eddison again but turns her attention to her husband “Colonel!”

“Damn it, woman!” Hugh said “You with your perspicacity! You've rumbled me”. Much to the surprise of Lady Eddison, he stood up.

“Hugh, you can walk. But why?” Lady Eddison asked.

“My darling, how else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?” Hugh said “You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency. Sooner or later some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that. Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you” Hugh looked back at Agatha “Confound it, Mrs Christie, how did you discover the truth?” he demanded.

“Um, actually I had no idea”, Agatha admitted “I was just going to say you're completely innocent”. Alyssa and Donna exchanged looks both rather amused at how embarrassed the Colonel looked at revealing his secret.

“Oh….ugh”

“Sorry”, Agatha said apologetically.

“Well….shall I sit down then?” he asked.

“I think you better had”, Agatha said. Hugh complied and Lady Eddison took his hand.

“So he's not the murderer”, Donna stated.

“Nope he’s not Donna”, Alyssa said, her green eyes flicking over to the Reverend.

“To find the truth, let's return to this” Agatha took the Firestone from the Doctor “Far more than the Unicorn's object of desire. The Firestone has quite a history. Lady Eddison”.

“I've done nothing!” Lady Eddison cried.

“You brought it back from India, did you not?” Agatha continued “Before you met the Colonel. You came home with malaria, and confined yourself to this house for six months, in a room that has been kept locked ever since…”

“But it wasn’t malaria you’d gotten in India was it Lady Eddison?” Alyssa spoke up “you’d fallen pregnant that’s why you hid yourself away. The only person who knew about it was Miss Chandrakala”.

“Clemency, is this true?” Hugh asked looking at his wife.

“My poor baby”, Lady Eddison said, her voice trembling “I had to give him away. The shame of it!”

“But you never said a word…” Hugh said shocked that his wife had kept this from him all these years.

“I had no choice!” Lady Eddison argued “Imagine the scandal. The family name. I'm British. I carry on”.

“And it was no ordinary pregnancy…” the Doctor spoke up.

“How can you know that?” Lady Eddison asked looking at him alarmed.

“Excuse me Agatha, this is my territory”, the Doctor stood up and joined the woman at the fireplace “But when you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, ‘It can't be’. Why did you say that?”

“You'd never believe it…” Lady Eddison whispered.

 _You’d be surprised_ Alyssa thought. She’d seen many thing travelling with the Doctor which has caused her to a little more open minded about things.

“The Doctor has opened my mind to believe many things”, Agatha said.

“It was forty years ago…in the heat of Delhi, late one night”, Lady Eddison began as the writer sat down “I was alone, and that's when I saw it. A dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house. Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back. And in return he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human, to learn about us. This was his true shape. I loved him so much, it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the great monsoon. The river Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was taken at the flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift. A jewel like no other. I wore it always. Part of me never forgot. I kept it close, always”.

“Just like a man”, Robina scoffed “Flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven”.

“A poor little child”, Agatha commented “Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate”.

“Oh, that's ‘maiden’! Maiden name!” Donna piped up having worked in out.

“Precisely”, Agatha nodded.

“So she killed him?” Donna asked looking at Lady Eddison.

“No, Donna. Lady Eddison didn’t kill the Professor and she didn’t kill Miss Chandrakala”, Alyssa said standing up and joining both the Doctor and Agatha at the fireplace. “Lady Eddison how old would your son be now?” she asked.

“40. He's 40”, Lady Eddison replied.

“There is only one person is this room who is 40 years old and it was this person whom I sensed was not human” Alyssa said. She looked at the Reverend who was looking a bit uneasy “Reverend Golightly”, she said pointing at him.

“Oh, this is poppycock!” the Reverend exclaimed.

“Oh?” the Doctor raised an eyebrow “You said you were taught by the Christian Fathers, meaning you were raised in an orphanage”.

“My son….” Lady Eddison breathed, looking at Reverend in tears “Can it be?”

“You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry. A proper, deep anger, for the first time in your life, and it broke the genetic lock. You changed”, the Doctor explained “You realised your inheritance. After all these years, you _knew_ who you were. Oh, and then it all kicks off, because this isn't just a jewel. It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder! It's part of you, your brain, your very essence”. A small smile appeared on Alyssa’s face as she listened to him ramble. She loved it when he rambled! “And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time, it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You've killed, in this pattern, because that's what you think the world is. It turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha”.

“Dame?” Agatha frowned.

“Not yet dear”, Alyssa said.

“Oh, Sorry”, the Doctor said.

“So he killed them, yes? Definitely?” Donna asked.

“Yes Donna, he _is_ the murder”, Alyssa answered.

“Well, this has certainly been a most entertaining evening” the Reverend stood up “Really, you can't believe any of this surely, Lady Edizzon”.

“Lady who?” the Doctor asked raising his eye brows.

“Lady Edizzzzon…” Reverend Golightly repeated.

“Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar?”

“ _Don't_ make me angry”, Reverend Golightly warned.

“Why? What happens then?” the Doctor asked. Alyssa didn’t think it was wise to provoke him like that considering what the Reverend was.

“Damn it! You humanzz! Worshipping your tribal sky godzz!” Reverend Golightly shouted “I am so much more! That night, the universe exploded in my mind! I wanted to take what wazz mine. And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezz… what'z to stop me killing you?”

“Oh, my dear God” Lady Eddison reaching out towards him “My child!”

A purple light surrounded the Reverend and he transformed into the Vespiform. “What'zz to stop me killing you all?”

“Forgive me!” Lady Eddison cried. Hugh grabbed her and pulled her out of the room.

“No! No more murder!” Agatha shouted, holding up the Firestone “If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature!”

And with that she ran out of the room. The Doctor, Alyssa and Donna hurry after her, the Vespiform close behind. 

The trio rushed out of the house, the Doctor slamming the main door behind them. Agatha suddenly drove past them, honking the horn.

“Come on!” the Doctor said running over to Agatha’s car when the Vespiform broke through the door.

“Over here! Come and get me, Reverend!” Agatha called.

“Agatha, what are you doing?” the Doctor shouted.

“If I started this, Doctor, then I must stop it!” and with that Agatha drove off. The Vespiform hesitated before chasing after her. The Doctor, Alyssa and Donna darted towards another car.

After a short car chase, they ended up at Silent Pool Lake.

“Here I am!” Agatha called at the water’s edge, holding up the Firestone which was glowing purple “The honey in the trap. Come to me, Vespiform”.

“She's controlling it!” Donna breathed as the wasp slowed and just hovered before the writer.

“Its mind is based on her thought processes”, the Doctor realized “They're linked”.

“Quite so, Doctor”, Agatha agreed “If I die, then this creature might die with me”.

“Don't hurt her!” Alyssa shouted hurrying to Agatha’s side “You're not meant to be like this. You've got the wrong template in your mind”.

“It's not listening to you Ali”, Donna said and snatched the Firestone from Agatha, throwing it into the lake. The Vespiform followed it, diving into the water.

“How do you kill a wasp?” Donna asked “Drown it, just like his father”.

“Donna, that thing couldn't help itself”, the Doctor said looking at the water sadly as it bubble purple.

“Neither could I”, Donna countered.

“Death comes as the end and justice is served”, Agatha said solemnly.

“Murder at the Vicar's rage”, the Doctor murmured.

“Needs a bit of work dear”, Alyssa said and the Doctor nodded in agreement.

Suddenly Agatha doubled over in pain, clutching her head, Alyssa also wincing as she felt the woman’s pain. “It's the Firestone!” the Doctor said catching the writer and lowered her to the ground “It's part of the Vespiform's mind. It's dying and it's connected to Agatha”, he explained.

The woman briefly glowed purple before it faded away and she fell unconscious. “He let her go. Right at the end, the Vespiform chose to save someone's life”, the Doctor said.

“Is she all right, though?” Donna asked looking at Agatha.

“Oh, of course! The amnesia!” the Doctor realized “Wiped her mind of everything that happened. The wasp, the murders”.

“And us”, Donna added “She'll forget about us”.

 _But at least the mystery of Agatha Christie is solved_ the Doctor thought looking down at the writer.

“Doctor…” Alyssa began making him and Donna look up at her “I don’t feel so…” she suddenly pitched forward in a faint. Thankfully the Doctor managed to catch her. The Time Lord looked down at her worriedly. What had made her faint this time? Had she not quite recovered from using her powers or was it something else? The Doctor made a note to run a scan to make sure it wasn’t anything serious.


	25. Ali's shock

The Doctor sat by Alyssa’s bed in the med bay looking over the results of the scan he’d taken. It was essentially the same as the one he’d taken just after Messaline. He sighed, running a hand through his hair making it stick up even more. How was he supposed to tell her that she was becoming more like…well…a Time Lady?

He should’ve been more excited than he actually was. The woman he loved with everything in his hearts was becoming a Time Lady. He should be jumping for joy! But he wasn’t. He was more worried about how she would react.

The Doctor looked up when he heard Alyssa stir. “Med bay again”, she mumbled “hope this isn’t going to become a habit”.

“Better not be”, the Doctor said and she looked over at him. Alyssa sat up, an apologetic expression on her face.

“Doctor I’m so sorry for passing out like that. I don’t know what came over me, one minute I’m fine that next minute I start feeling dizzy and I pass out”, she said quickly.

“Ali, its ok. There’s no need to apologise”, the Doctor assured her “how are you feeling?”

“A bit better”, Alyssa replied. Then she noticed the tablet in his hands “what’s that?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s the results from the medical scan I took”, the Doctor replied “Ali… it’s picked up something…”

“Something bad?” she asked looking worried.

“Depends on your point of view”, the Doctor answered. He took a breath “Ali…it says you’re becoming like…me”

Alyssa frowned “I’m sorry?” she asked wondering if she’d misheard him “I thought you just said I’m becoming like you. A time Lord”

“Time Lady”, the Doctor corrected her “you’re becoming a Time Lady”.

Alyssa stared at him, eyes wide “oh my god”, she breathed.

“I know this must be a shock…” the Doctor began.   

Alyssa nodded slowly “uh huh” she looked away and the Doctor wondered what she was thinking…what she was feeling. Alyssa swallowed and looked back at him “would you mind giving me a moment?” she asked.

The Doctor nodded. He understood why she needed a moment to herself. He stood up “take all the time you need”, he said giving her hand a gentle squeeze before her left the room.

“Time Lady…” she murmured. She honestly didn’t see that one coming. Then again she did have some Time Vortex inside her. Was this the reason she was becoming a Time Lady? Alyssa placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart beating under her palm. She wondered what it would be like to have two hearts in her chest. Would it feel weird? Then a thought occurred to her, what if the strange sensation she’d felt occasionally in her chest had something to do with her undergoing the change? If it were true then she’d been undergoing a change since the Titanic.

Alyssa’s thoughts turned to the Doctor’s lifespan. It was several times longer than hers. Though now she supposed, her life span had been extended too. That brought a smile to her face. For the first time, it seemed like they had an actual future together! No worrying about her dying in 70 0r 80 years time. What about her friends? She was going to outlive them by not just a few years…a few centuries! But they did have a time machine so she could visit them whenever she wanted. Still… it was going to have some getting used to. Well, she now had plenty of time to do just that.

Then Alyssa came to a realisation. Her mother! “How the hell am I going to explain this to my mum?” she asked aloud. Sarah was a little overwhelmed to begin with about the Doctor being an alien and that they travel in a police box through time and space. She was ok with it now, though Alyssa didn’t tell her absolutely everything that went on during her travels.

She had no clue how her mother going to react about her ‘baby girl’ becoming an alien. _I suppose I’ll have to figure out the right time and way to tell her_ Alyssa thought. What she did know for sure is that she wasn’t going to be breaking the news to her alone. Oh no. She was going to make sure that the Doctor was there too. Even if she had to hold all his converse hostage or hijack Sexy… she will make sure he was there.

Alyssa wondered where the Doctor was at the moment. She wanted to tell him what she felt about the news he’d given her. She closed her eyes and reached out with her powers... he was standing outside the med bay. “Doctor!” she called.

The door opened and the Time Lord entered. “I’ve thought over what you told me”, Alyssa said “and while it’s…a shock, I’m really happy” the Doctor sat down on the edge of the bed “I get to stay with you without fear of aging like a normal person. But…I'm scared Doctor. What if something goes wrong? What if something happens during the change?”

The Doctor took her hand “If the TARDIS is the one behind this and I’m pretty sure she is, she’ll make sure that nothing goes wrong. And so I will I. I promise you’re going to complete the change… and you’re going to be magnificent”.

“You think so?” Alyssa asked hopeful.

“Trust me love, I’m the Doctor”, the Doctor said earning a laugh from the red head.

“I do trust you dear”, Alyssa gave him a quick kiss. She moved away but the Doctor pulled her back in for a much deeper kiss.

“You better get some more rest”, he said after pulling back “you’re going to need it when you tell Donna”.

“Oh, I’m not telling Donna on my own. You’re going to be right here too”, Alyssa said firmly giving him a look.

“Yes love”, the Doctor said knowing when she gave that look it was useless to argue “now, rest”.

Alyssa laid down and patted the empty space next to her. “I’m not made of glass Doctor, I won’t break”, she said when he hesitated. The Time Lord nodded and stood up. He tugged off his converse and removed his jacket before he slipped under the covers. Alyssa snuggled up to him, resting her head on his chest. “I love you spaceman”, she murmured.

“I love you too, my brilliant Ali”

\-------------------------

Little later…

Alyssa sat there in bed waiting for the Doctor and Donna. She wanted to get out of bed but the Doctor wouldn’t let her. Said she needed to rest more. The door opened and the pair walked in.

“You look better Ali”, Donna remarked.

“I feel better. Sorry for giving you a scare for fainting like that”, Alyssa said apologetically.

“Ah, that’s ok Ali”, Donna said waving her apology off.

“We’ve got something to tell you Donna…” the Doctor began.

“I’m becoming a Time Lady”, Alyssa finished. Donna stared at them, mouth slightly open. For one crazy moment she thought they were going to tell her that Alyssa was pregnant…hence why she’d fainted. But she hadn’t expected her becoming a Time Lady.

“Are you kidding me? This is not a joke is it?!” Donna exclaimed. When neither the Doctor nor Alyssa started laughing, she realised that they were being serious. Donna beamed “Oh my god!” she cried “Then that means I can call you spacewoman now Ali!” she looked at the Doctor “To match your spaceman!”


	26. Silence in the Library part 1

“Books!” the Doctor shouted picking up his coat “People never really stop loving books”. He walked out of the TARDIS, Alyssa and Donna following after him, the latter checking the buckle of her wedge sandals as she went. The reason for her wearing sandals is that they went very nicely with the light cotton dress she was wearing which covered up her bathing suit. Why she was wearing garments suitable for a beach? Because that was where they were headed until the Doctor suddenly altered course. When she and Donna had asked why, the Doctor was pretty vague in his answer. He just simply said that he fancied stopping off at The Library for a bit.

“51st century”, the Doctor said as they stood in the huge empty reception area “By now you've got holovids, direct to brain downloads, fiction mist, but you need the smell. The smell of books, Donna, Ali. Deep breath”.

They walked across the room and the Doctor opened a door. The trio descended the steps to a balcony which gave them a magnificent view of the surface of the planet. “Whoa”, Alyssa breathed, amazed.

“The Library. So big it doesn't need a name. Just a great big ‘The’”, the Doctor explained.

“It's like a city!” Donna exclaimed gaping at it.

“It's a _world_ ”, the Doctor corrected her “Literally, a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer. Biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book. Brand new editions, specially printed”. Alyssa shook her head still amazed. “We're near the equator, so…” he licked his finger and held it up “this must be biographies! I love biographies”

“Yeah, very ‘you’. Always a death at the end”, Donna remarked.

“You need a good death”, the Doctor said though he was very happy with the fact that he didn’t have to worry about for Alyssa, given the fact that she was becoming like him. “Without death, there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size”.

Donna picks up a book only for the Doctor to take it away from her “Oi! Spoilers!” he cried.

“What?” Donna asked with a frown.

“These books are from your future”, the Doctor replied “You don't want to read ahead. Spoil all the surprises. Like peeking at the end”.

“Isn't travelling with you one big spoiler?” Donna asked.

“I try to keep you away from major plot developments”, the Doctor answered.

Alyssa snorted “which you’re very bad at, if your past record is anything to go by”, she said.

“Yes I know, I’m…working on it”, the Doctor said looking around.

Alyssa didn’t believe that for one moment. The day the Doctor manages to avoid a major plot development, will be the day she throws out all the fezzes from the TARDIS.

“This _is_ the biggest library in the universe”, the Doctor began “So where is everyone? It's silent”. He walked over to an information kiosk, taking out his sonic as he did so.

“The library?” Donna asked.

“The planet. The whole planet”, the Doctor said as the screen lit up.

“Well…Maybe it's a Sunday”, Donna suggested.

The Doctor shook his head “No, I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring”.

“Well, maybe everyone's really, really quiet”, Donna said.

Alyssa frowned at that. It didn’t seem possible for everyone to be extremely quiet especially since this a planet sized library. There would still be some noise. Whether it’s footsteps of people traversing their way through the Library… or breathing of the visitors or quiet murmurings of conversation. Either way it wouldn’t be this quiet. The silence was almost…eerie.

“Yeah…maybe”, the Doctor agreed “But they'd still show up on the system”.

“Doctor, why are we here?” Donna suddenly asked “Really, why?”

“Oh, you know, just…passing” the Doctor shrugged.

“You do know I can tell when you’re lying or keeping something from us, right?” Alyssa reminded him “so why are we in the largest library in the universe?”

“Now that's interesting”, the Doctor commented, seemingly ignoring Alyssa.

“What?” Donna asked.

“Scanning for life forms”, the Doctor replied “If I do a scan looking for your basic humanoids. You know, your book readers, few limbs and a face…” he pushed a few buttons and the screen flashed: Filtered Humanoid Life Form Scan: 3: complete “Apart from us, I get nothing. Zippo, nada. See? Nobody home. But if I widen the parameters to any kind of life”. The Doctor pushed a few more buttons.

The numbers began to count upwards until ERROR flashed on the screen along with the number 1,000,000,000,000. Beneath the number it said: Lifeform Number Capped at Maximum Record.

“How is that even possible?” Alyssa asked staring at the screen “apart from us 3, there’s no one else here”.

“And not a sound”, the Doctor added “A million million life forms, and silence in the library”.

“But there's no one here”, Donna said repeating what Alyssa had just said “There's just books. I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive”.

The Doctor, Alyssa and Donna look down at the books in front of them. The Time Lord tentatively reached a hand as does Donna. Alyssa watched them, wondering if it was such a good idea. Suddenly a voice shouted “Welcome!” startling all 3 of them.

“That came from here”, Donna said glancing behind her at the way they came.

“Yeah”, the Doctor agreed. He took Alyssa’s hand and they all walked back to the reception area.

An almost humanoid sculpture by a curved desk turns its head and speaks with a female voice from a small face on its surface. “I am Courtesy Node 710/Aqua” it introduced “Please enjoy The Library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers, regardless of species or hygiene taboo”.

“That face, it looks real”, Donna commented as she regarded it.

“Yeah…don't worry about it” the Doctor waved her off.

“A statue with a real face, though?” Donna continued, not one for letting things go “It's a hologram or something, isn't it?”

“No, but really…it's fine”, the Doctor assured her. Alyssa could tell he knew something about this Node but whatever it was, he didn’t want to tell them.

“Additional” the Node continued “There follows a brief message from the Head Librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by a Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. ‘Run. For God's sake, run. No way is safe. The library has sealed itself, we can't. Oh…they're here. Argh. Slarg. Snick’ Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm. units for the comfort of other readers”.

“So that's why we're here”, the Doctor realised “Any other messages, same date stamp?”

“One additional message”, the Node replied “This message carries a Felman Lux Coherency Warning of 5-0-11”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine, fine, fine. Just play it”, the Doctor said impatiently.

“Message follows. ‘Count the shadows. For God's sake, remember…if you want to live, count the shadows’. Message ends”

“Donna….Ali…” the Doctor slowly began.

“Yeah?” Donna and Alyssa chorused.

“Stay out of the shadows”, he warned.

“Why, what's in the shadows?” Donna asked. The Doctor didn’t answer, he just took Alyssa’s hand again and headed through a door. 

The next room was brightly lit with aisles and aisles of bookshelves several stories high. “So, you didn’t have a fancy to stop of at a library”, Alyssa said after a moment.

“Yeah…I kind of…sort of lied a bit”, the Doctor admitted “I got a message on the psychic paper”.

He held it up the psychic paper and showed them the message. Of course to Alyssa the paper was blank, like it had been before. “Um Doctor… I can’t read it”, she said.

“Oh, right”, the Doctor said mentally kicking himself for forgetting that she couldn’t read the psychic paper as to her it was blank. “It says ‘The Library. Come as soon as you can. X’. What do you think? Cry for help?”

“Cry for help…with a kiss?” Donna said taking the psychic paper from him.

“Oh, we've all done that”, the Doctor said taking it back from her and putting it into his pocket.

“Who's it from?” Alyssa asked.

“No idea”, the Doctor answered honestly.

“So why did we come here?” Donna demanded “Why did you…”

“Donna….Ali”, the Doctor said seeing the lights start to go out from the far end, the darkness slowly working its way towards them.

“What's happening?” Alyssa asked eyes wide as the darkness crept closer as even more lights go out.

“Run!” the Doctor shouted, grabbing Alyssa’s hand and pulling her along. Donna hot on their heels. They came to a stop at a door. The Doctor frantically tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge “Come on!”

“What, is it locked?” Donna asked.

“Jammed”, the Doctor replied “The wood's warped!”

“Well, sonic it. Use the thingy!” Donna shouted as the darkness grew closer.

“The sonic doesn’t do wood”, Alyssa informed her trying to stay calm even though she could feel both the Doctor’s and Donna’s frantic emotions “I can get the door open”, she added.

“No”, the Doctor said firmly “I can do it…” the Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver “I can vibrate the molecules, fry the bindings. I can shatterline the interface…”

“Oh, get out of the way!” Donna said shoving him aside before kicking the door open. The trio burst into the room, slamming the door shut behind them. Donna and Alyssa kept the door shut as the Doctor ran to grab a book to jam between the door handles.

He spun around and saw a spherical security camera hovering in the air. “Oh! Hello!” he greeted “Sorry to burst on you like this. Okay if we stop here for a bit?”

The security camera dropped to the floor.

“What is it?” Donna asked as they approached it.

“Security camera”, the Doctor replied picking it up “Switched itself off”. He took out his sonic screwdriver and used it on the security camera.

“That was some nice door skills, Donna”, Alyssa commented.

“Yeah, well, you know, boyfriends…sometimes you need the element of surprise”, Donna said with a shrug.

 _Hm… element of surprise…I’ll have to keep that in mind_ Alyssa thought.

 “What was that? What was after us?” Donna questioned “I mean, did we just run away from a power cut?”

“Possibly”, the Doctor replied.

“Are we safe here?” Donna asked looking around.

“Of course we're safe. There's a little shop”, the Doctor answered, nodding at the sign marked ‘shop’. “Gotcha!” he cheered as the cover of the camera lens popped open.

“Doctor stop”, Alyssa said noticing a message appear on the camera.

_No! Stop it! No! No!_

“Ooo, I'm sorry”, the Doctor said realising it wasn’t just a security camera, it was alive one “I really am. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's alive”.

“You said it was a security camera”, Donna said as Alyssa took the camera from the Doctor, cradling it her hands and started to softly hum _Hushabye Mountian_ to try and soothe it.

“It is. It's an alive one”, the Doctor said as he watched Alyssa hum a lullaby to the camera. She stopped when a new message appeared on the camera.

_Others are coming_

“Others?” Donna frowned when Alyssa showed it to them “What's it mean, others?”

The Doctor shrugged. He didn’t know what it meant. Donna went over to a nearby Node “Excuse me. What does it mean, others?” she asked as Alyssa gently set the camera down.

“That's barely more than a Speak-Your-Weight-Machine”, the Doctor told her “It can't help you”.

“So why's it got a face?” Donna questioned.

“This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death”, the Node replied.

“It's a _real_ face?” Donna gasped. She wasn’t the only one that was disgusted, Alyssa was too.

“It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy”, the Node explained. Alyssa shook her head at that still rather disgusted.

“It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like?” Donna asked in disbelief “that statue's got a real dead person's face on it”.

“It's the 51st century” the Doctor said with a shrug “That's basically like donating a park bench”.

“There’s a big difference between donating a park bench and donating a face”, Alyssa said taking a step back.

“Ali, no!” the Doctor grabbed the red head and pulled her away from the triangular shadow that she had been unknowingly moving toward. “The shadow. Look”, he said pointing to it

“What about it?” Donna asked.

“Count the shadows”, the Doctor instructed.

“One”, Donna replied “There, counted it. One shadow”.

“But what’s casting it Donna?” Alyssa asked having had a quick glance around, not seeing anything that could cast such a shadow.

“Oh, I'm thick!” the Doctor exclaimed smacking himself in the head “Look at me, I'm old and thick! Head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head!”

One of the lights in an aisle started flickering before it went out. “The power must be going”, Donna commented.

The Doctor shook his head “This place runs on fission cells. They'll out-burn the sun”, he explained.

“Then why is it dark?” Donna asked.

“It's not _dark_ ”

“Uh guys….” Alyssa said slowly, seeing that the shadow the Doctor had pointed out was gone “the shadow is gone”.

“We need to get back to the TARDIS”, the Doctor said suddenly.

“Why?” Donna asked.

“Because that shadow hasn't gone. It's moved”, the Doctor said seriously.

“Reminder: The Library has been breached, others are coming”, the Node announced “Reminder: The Library has been breached, others are coming. Reminder: The Library has been breached….”

A door in the back of the room burst open and 6 people in white spacesuits entered. Out of reflex, the Doctor pulled Alyssa behind him. He had no idea if these people would be a threat to her. One of the people walked straight over to them, switching the visor to transparent to reveal a female face.

Alyssa let out a gasp as she recognised who it was. “It’s you!” she breathed.

The woman smiled “hello Lyssa”, she greeted.


	27. Silence in the Library part 2

“Pop your helmets, everyone”, River instructed, turning to the others “We've got breathers”. She then removed her own helmet.

“How do you know they're not androids?” a woman with shorter hair, Anita asked as she took off her helmet.

“Because I've dated androids”, River replied “They're rubbish”.

“Ali who is that woman?” the Doctor asked her quietly.

“I don’t know”, she answered honestly “I’ve only met her a couple of times. Once while Ben and I were on holiday in Paris. She took our photograph. The other was…” Alyssa trailed off knowing that was she was going to say next would make him angry.

“And the other was…?” the Doctor asked.

“My room. She was the one who…” Alyssa took a breath “put me on the Valiant”.

As expected, an angry look appeared on the Time Lord’s face. Donna looked at him puzzled wondering why he’d reacted that way to Alyssa answer. Before the Doctor could say anything however, Mr Lux spoke up.

“Who is this?” he demanded eyeing the trio “You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives!”

“I lied”, River stated, not seeming too bothered “I'm always lying. Bound to be others”.

“Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts”, Lux said turning to a pretty young brunette. She nodded and started searching through her bag.

River turned to the Doctor, Donna and Alyssa. “You came through the north door, yeah?” she asked “How was that, much damage?”

“Did you know what was going to happen when you put her on the Valiant?” the Doctor demanded, ignoring her question “did you?”

“No I didn’t. I just knew she had to be on board so she could destroy the paradox machine”, River answered.

“I don’t believe you”, the Doctor spat. Alyssa put a hand on his arm to try and calm him but he shrugged it off. “You _knew_ what was going to happen. Ali was tortured…almost killed because you brought her onto the Valiant!”

“I didn’t know I swear”, River insisted.

“She’s telling the truth Doctor”, Alyssa spoke up.

“She can’t be”, the Doctor said, very firm in his belief that this woman knew exactly what was going to happen.

“She _is_ telling the truth Doctor, trust me on that”, Alyssa repeated, taking his hand. The Doctor looked at her, seeing in her eyes that she believed what her abilities where telling her about the curly haired woman.

“Ok”, the Doctor said. He had faith in her abilities and most definitely trusted her. However, he wasn’t about to trust the curly haired woman despite Alyssa’s assurances that she was telling the truth. He turned back to the curly haired woman “You and your friends need to leave, right now. Get back in your rocket and fly away”, he said not bothering to say it nicely. Then it occurred to him what the older man had said a few minutes ago “Hang on…did you say expedition?”

“My expedition. I funded it”, Lux informed him.

“Oh, you're not, are you?” the Doctor groaned “Tell me you're not archaeologists”.

“Got a problem with archaeologists?” River asked brow raised.

“I'm a time traveller”, the Doctor stated “I point and laugh at archaeologists”.

“Ah. Professor River Song, archaeologist”, River said holding out her hand.

“River Song, lovely name”, the Doctor commented “As you're leaving…and you're leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again…not one living thing, not here, not ever” Anita started wander towards the shadows, which the Doctor noticed “Stop right there!” he runs over to her “What's your name?”

“Anita”, Anita replied.

“Anita, stay out of the shadows”, the Doctor warned “Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, _very_ scared” they all just looked at him bemused, even River was smiling “No, bit more scared than that” Miss Evangelista complied, looking scared “Okay, do for now” the Doctor walked over to one of the men by the door “You. Who are you?”

“Uh, Dave”, he replied.

“Okay, Dave…” the Doctor began.

“Well, Other Dave”, Other Dave cut in “because uh…that's Proper Dave the pilot, he was the first Dave, so when we-“

“Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?” the Doctor asked interrupting him.

Other Dave looked down the hall “Yeah. Oh, it's a bit darker”, he answered.

“How much darker?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago”, Other Dave said “I can't now”

“Seal up this door”, the Doctor ordered “We'll find another way out”. He then walked back over to Alyssa and Donna.

“We're not looking for a way out”, Lux stated “Miss Evangelista?”

Miss Evangelista stepped up the trio, papers in her hand “I'm Mister Lux's personal…everything”, she explained “You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation”.

“Right, give it here”, the Doctor said taking one.

“Yeah, lovely”, Donna took one.

“Thanks”, Alyssa said taking one as well. All 3 of them tore the contracts in half.

“My family built this library!” Lux shouted, outraged “I have rights”.

“You have a mouth that won't stop”, River remarked. She turned to the Doctor “You think there's danger here?” she asked.

“Something came to this library and killed everything in it. Killed a whole world”, the Doctor replied sarcastically “Danger? Could be”.

“That was a 100 years ago. The Library's been silent for a 100 years. Whatever came here's long dead”, River countered.

“Bet your life?” Alyssa asked.

“Always”, River said with a smile.

“What are you doing?” Lux demanded hearing a whirring sound and seeing Other Dave doing something to the door when he turned around.

“He said seal the door”, Other Dave said.

“Torch!” the Doctor said before he snatched it from Lux’s hands.

“You're taking orders from him?” Lux asked in disbelief.

“Spooky, isn't it?” the Doctor said with a grin. Alyssa had to smile too. For someone who said he doesn’t do orders, he’d already given a few on this adventure already. “Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark”, the Doctor said as he shined the torch into the shadows, Alyssa and Donna now standing next to him “But they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada”.

“What's Vashta Nerada?” Donna asked.

“It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark”, the Doctor answered. He turned back to the group “Lights! That's what we need, lights” he tossed his torch back to Lux “You got lights?”

“What for?” River asked.

“Form a circle”, the Doctor instructed “Safe area. Big as you can, lights pointing out”.

“Do as he says”, River said turning to the others.

“You're not listening to this man?!” Lux demanded as the Doctor removed his coat, throwing it onto a desk.

“Apparently I am”, River said before she started giving out orders to the team “Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the library database. See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty boy, you're with me. Step into my office”.

She walked over to a desk with a terminal as the Doctor knelt down on the floor, head tilted sideways as he watched the shadows. “Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?” Lux asked having put on his helmet just as she said.

“I don't fancy you”, River replied cheekily.

The Doctor stood up and went over to Proper Dave who was standing by a computer “Probably I can help you”, he said as Lux took off his helmet.

“Pretty boy. With me, I said”, River called.

“Oh, I'm pretty boy?” the Doctor said pointing to himself.

“Yes”, Donna said “Ooo, that came out a bit quick”, she added.

“Pretty?!”

“Meh”, Donna shrugged.

“I wouldn’t say pretty”, Alyssa said earning a pout from the Doctor “I’d say…very handsome”. The Doctor beamed, rather pleased at that. He gave her a quick kiss before heading over to River.

“Don't let your shadows cross”, the Doctor warned as he walked “Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected”.

“How can a shadow be infected?”  Other Dave asked but the Doctor didn’t answer.

“Excuse me, can I help?” Miss Evangelista piped up.

“No, we're fine”, Anita replied.

“I could just you know, hold things”, Miss Evangelista continued.

“No, really, we're okay”, Other Dave waved her off. He and Anita exchanged glances as Miss Evangelista walked away. Alyssa watched her go, sensing how despondent the girl was feeling. She felt rather sorry for her. The girl only wanted to help and they wave her off.

River took out a battered blue book from her backpack, the Doctor watching before he cleared his throat. “Thanks”, she said.

“For what?” the Doctor frowned.

“The usual” River shrugged “For coming when I call”.

“Oh, that was you?” the Doctor asked.

“You're doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me”, River remarked “I'm assuming there's a reason”. She started thumbing through her blue book.

“A fairly good one, actually”, the Doctor said.

“Okay, shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time? Uh, going by your face, I'd say its early days for you, yes? So, um…” River flipped through a few pages “crash of the _Byzantium_. Have we done that yet?” the Doctor stared at her expressionless “Obviously not” she flipped through a few more pages “Right. Um…Oh! Picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?” the Doctor continued to stare at her “Obviously ringing no bells. Speaking of bells… have you put a ring on her yet?”

“What?” the Doctor asked.

“Lyssa…have you put a ring on her yet?” River repeated.

“What?” the Doctor asked again, a dumbfounded look on his face. His mind had just registered what she was asking.

“I guess not”, River remarked “Blimey, _very_ early days, then. Whoo, life with a time traveller. Never knew it could be such hard work” and then it dawned on her “Look at you!” she whispered “Oh, you're young”.

“I'm really not, you know”, the Doctor said.

“No, but you are” River lifted a hand to place on the side of his face but the Doctor moved away. It wasn’t right for anyone but Alyssa to do that. River lowered her hand “Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you”.

“You've seen me before, then?” the Doctor asked.

“Doctor…please tell me you know who I am”, River pleaded.

“Who are you?” the Doctor frowned.

Suddenly a strange noise sounded, echoing throughout the room. Alyssa frowned at the noise. It sounded almost like a telephone ringing.

“Sorry, that was me”, Proper Dave apologised “Trying to get through into the security protocols. I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?”

“Doctor, that sounds like…“ Donna began.

“It is….it's a phone”, the Doctor confirmed.

“I'm trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding. Just that noise”, Proper Dave explained. The Doctor crossed the room, heading over to the man followed by Alyssa, Donna and the others.

“But it's a phone”, Donna frowned.

“Let me try something”, the Doctor said nudging Proper Dave out of the way. They all watched him type away at the terminal before ‘Access Denied’ popped up on the screen. “Ok, doesn't like that. Let's try something else”, the Time Lord said and typed a different code into the terminal. It seems to work as the image of a little girl appeared on the screen. “Hello?” the Doctor called, gaining the attention of the girl.

She turned around looking rather surprised “Hello”, she greeted “Are you in my television?”

“Well…no, I'm, I'm sort of in space”, the Doctor replied “Um, I was trying to call up the data core of a triple grid security processor”.

“Would you like to speak to my Dad?” the girl asked.

“Dad or your Mum. That'd be lovely”, the Doctor nodded.  

“I know you!” the girl’s eyes widened as she saw the man from before. She then noticed a familiar red haired woman standing slightly behind him “and you!” the girl pointed at the woman “You’re the one who hummed that song!”

Alyssa exchanged a surprised look with Donna. This was who she was humming that lullaby to? A little girl? “That’s right”, she confirmed.

“You're in my library”, the girl continued.

“ _Your_ library?” the Doctor said with a frown.

“The library's never been on the television before”, the girl stated “What have you done?”

“Um, well, um…I just…rerouted the interface”, the Doctor began before the connection was abruptly cut off.

“What happened? Who was that?” River questioned.

 _Accessed Denied_ popped up on the screen again. 

“I need another terminal”, the Doctor said running over to the terminal where River’s blue book sat “Keep working on those lights. We need those lights!”

“You heard him, people! Let there be light”, River said.

The Doctor’s gaze was drawn to the blue book. He picked it up only to have it taken out of his hands by Alyssa. “Don’t you know it’s rude to go through other people’s things?” she asked holding it out to River.

“Thank you Lyssa”, she said taking it from her and putting it into her pack “you’re not allowed to see inside the book, Doctor. It's against the rules”.

“What rules?” the Doctor asked confused.

“Your rules”, River replied before she walked away. The Doctor looked at Alyssa, who just shrugged. He turned back to the terminal, continuing to try and work on accessing the data core. Suddenly books started flying off the shelves. The Doctor pulled Alyssa down, shielding her.

When the bombardment stopped the Doctor looked down at Alyssa “you ok?” he asked.

She nodded “yeah. What was that?” she asked.

“No idea”, the Doctor replied standing up, pulling the red head to her feet too.

“So… what’s CAL?” Alyssa asked noticing a message on the terminal screen.

_CAL Accessed Denied_

“I don’t know”, the Doctor answered.


	28. Silence in the Library part 3

It was a mere minute later when more books started shooting off the shelves. Once again the Doctor shielded Alyssa from them.

“What's causing that? Is it the little girl?” River asked when the second barrage of books had stopped.

“But who is the little girl?” the Doctor asked after making sure Alyssa was ok “What's she got to do with this place? How does the data core work? What's the principle?” 

“Also, what's CAL?” Alyssa asked.

“Ask Mister Lux”, River answered.

“CAL, what is it?” the Doctor questioned.

“Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts”, Lux said smugly.

“Mister Lux. Right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?”

“I'm protecting my family's pride!” Lux countered.

“Funny thing, Mr Lux, I don't want to see the love of my life and everyone else in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important”, the Doctor retorted.

“Then why don't you sign his contract?” River asked. _Very good point River_ Alyssa thought as the Doctor looked at the woman, not knowing how to respond to that “I didn't either. I'm getting worse than you”.

“Ok, ok, ok. Let's start at the beginning. What happened here? On the actual day, a 100 years ago, what physically happened?” the Doctor asked.

“There was a message from the Library. Just one. ‘The lights are going out’. Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for a hundred years”, River said.

“It's taken 3 generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in”, Lux added.

“Um…excuse me”, Miss Evangelista called.

“Not just now”, Lux waved her off.

“There was 1 other thing in the last message”, River continued.

“That's confidential!” Lux turned on her.

“I trust the Doctor and Lyssa with my life, with everything”, River assured him. She then showed the Doctor and Alyssa the data file “This is a data extract that came with the message”.

“’4022 saved. No survivors’”, the Doctor read aloud.

“4022. That's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed”, River informed them.

Alyssa frowned “But how can 4022 people have been saved if there were no survivors?” she asked.

“That's what we're here to find out”, River replied.

“And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies”, Lux added in a grumble.

A scream sounded from another room.

The Doctor rushed off, everyone else following him. They headed through an open panel in the wall, down a hall and into a private study area. “Everybody, careful. Stay in the light”, the Doctor warned.

“You keep saying that. I don't see the point”, Proper Dave said.

“Who screamed?” Alyssa asked.

“Miss Evangelista”, Proper Dave replied. She was the only one missing from the group.

“Where is she?” the Doctor asked.

“Miss Evangelista, please state your current…” River trailed off when she heard the echo from nearby. More precisely the skeleton dressed in a shredded spacesuit. River walked over to it “Please state your current…” she knelt down “position” River pulled the broken collar to reveal the green lights of the comm “It's her. It's Miss Evangelista”.

“We heard her scream a few seconds ago”, Anita stated “What could do that to a person in a few seconds?”

“It took a lot less than a few seconds”, the Doctor said.

“What did?” Anita asked.

“ _Hello?_ ” Miss Evangelista called through the comm.

“I'm sorry, everyone. This isn't going to be pleasant”, River swallowed “She's ghosting”.

“She's what?” Donna asked.

“ _Hello? Excuse me._ _I-I'm sorry. Hello? Excuse me_ ”

“That's…that's her, that's Miss Evangelista!” Donna exclaimed.

“I don't want to sound horrible, but couldn't we just….you know?” Other Dave began.

“Are you being serious?” Alyssa asked him with a glare “This is her last moment. Show a little respect”. The Doctor took her hand. He knew all too well how much she hated death.

“ _Sorry, where am I? Excuse me?_ ” Miss Evangelista called.

“But that's Miss Evangelista”, Donna repeated.

“It's a data ghost. She'll be gone in a moment”, River explained “Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax. We'll be with you presently”, she added, speaking into her comm.

“What's a data ghost?” Donna asked.

“There's a neural relay in the communicator”, the Doctor replied “Lets you send thought mail. That's it there. Those green lights” he nodded to them “Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an afterimage”.

“My grandfather lasted a day. Kept talking about his shoelaces”, Anita mumbled.

“She's in there!” Donna’s eyes widened in horror.

“ _I can't see. I can't…where am I?_ ”

“River could you put your comm on speaker?” Alyssa asked. River nodded and did just that. The red head tugged her hand out of the Doctor’s and stepped forward. “You’re in the Library Miss Evangelista”, Alyssa spoke up.

“ _Who is that?_ ”

“It’s me, Lyssa”, Alyssa replied “look I know you’re probably very scared right now but there’s no need to be. There’s a better place waiting for you, a beautiful, peaceful paradise”.

“ _You really…think so?_ ” Miss Evangelista asked.

“Absolutely”, Alyssa said confidently trying to stop herself from crying “you’ll love it there, I promise”. She had to keep a strong front while she assured Miss Evangelista. It might only be her data ghost she was talking to but she still had to do it.

“ _Thank you…Lyssa. It that nice woman there?”_

“What woman?” Lux asked.

“She means…I think she means me”, Donna replied.

“She’s here”, Alyssa told Miss Evangelista.

“ _Hello? Are you there?_ ”

“Donna, she needs you”, Alyssa said. Donna hesitated for a moment before she stepped up next to Alyssa.

“Hello. Yeah, I'm-I'm…here. You okay?” Donna asked.

_“What I said before, about being stupid. Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh”_

“Course I won't. Course I won't tell them”, Donna promised.

_“Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh….”_

“I won't tell them. I said I won't”, Donna repeated.

“ _Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh…._ ”

“She's looping now. The pattern’s degrading”, River said as the indicator lights on the neural relay started to flash.

“ _I can't think….I don't know, I…I…I…I scream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream”_

A tear rolled down Alyssa’s cheek. The Doctor stepped forward and put an arm around her.

“Does anybody mind if I….” River stepped forward and turned off the comm.

“That was, that was horrible”, Donna mumbled “That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen”.

River shook her head “No. It's just a freak of technology”, she said solemnly “But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that”.

“I'll introduce you”, the Doctor said turning and walking out of the room, his arm still around Alyssa. 

~Rotunda~

“I'm going to need a packed lunch”, the Doctor said.

“Hang on”, River moved over to her pack and knelt down.

“What's in that book?” the Doctor asked crouching down as River pulled out the blue book and metal box with a lid on it.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business dear”, Alyssa said.

“She’s right, it’s not”, River agreed popping the book back into her pack.

“Who are you?” the Doctor asked.

“Professor River Song, University of….”

“To me. To Ali. Who are you to us?” the Doctor cut in.

“Spoilers”, River replied. She held out the metal box to the Doctor “Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out”.

The Doctor took the box and got to his feet “Right, you lot! Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada”. He moved over to the edge of the light, pulling out his sonic. “Ali could you give a hand?” he called as the red head had stayed by River.

“Sure”, Alyssa said and headed over.

“Do you think you could sense the Vashta Nerada?” the Doctor asked.

“Well… I didn’t sense it before but I can try”, Alyssa replied, closed her eyes and held out a hand. While she was trying to sense the Vashta Nerada, River went over to Donna.

“You travel with them, don't you?” she asked, nodding over to the pair “The Doctor and Lyssa”.

“What of it?” Donna demanded. She was a little bit on edge with the woman due to the interaction between herself and the Doctor. The ginger didn’t think she could be friendly with someone who’d been involved however indirectly with Alyssa’s suffering on the Valiant. But it was strange how seemingly friendly River was towards the Doctor and Alyssa, even going as far to give the red head a nickname. “You know him, don't you?” she realised “both of them”.

“Oh God, do I know that them”, River smiled “We go way back, us three. Just not this far back, at least not for the Doctor”.

“I'm sorry, what?” Donna asked confused.

“I met Lyssa a couple of times before but the Doctor… he hasn't met me yet”, River said “I sent him a message, but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is the Doctor and Lyssa in the days _before_ they knew me. And he looks at me, he looks right through me and it shouldn't kill me, but it does. Even more so with Lyssa. Oh that girl…” River sighed “she was the only one who truly understood. Maybe it’s the Empath in her”.

“What are you talking about?” Donna cried, exasperated “Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know them or don't you?”

“Donna! Quiet, Ali’s trying to concentrate!” the Doctor called.

“Sorry”, Donna called back.

River looked at Donna, shocked “Donna? You're Donna? Donna Noble?”

“Yeah” Donna nodded “Why?”

“I do know the Doctor and Lyssa, but in the future. Their personal future”, River replied.

Alyssa opened her eyes and withdrew her hand. “Found one”, she told the Doctor. The Time Lord scanned the area to confirm the presence of a Vashta Nerada. 

“Ok, got a live one!” he called to the others “That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm”. The Doctor stood up with Alyssa, putting her slightly behind him before he tossed a chicken leg from River’s lunch into the shadow. It bounced on the ground and was bone by the time it hit the ground for the second time.

“The piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters”, the Doctor explained “I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive”.

“What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?” Donna asked.

“Mmm. Earth, and a billion other worlds”, the Doctor said “Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams”.

“But if they were on Earth dear, we'd sure know about it”, Alyssa spoke up.

The Doctor shook his head “Nah. Normally they live on road kill”, he said “But sometimes people go missing”.

“Every shadow?” River asked

“No. But _any_ shadow”, the Doctor replied.

“So what do we do?” Alyssa asked.

“Daleks, aim for the eyestalk”, the Doctor answered.

“Sontarans, back of the neck”, Alyssa added.

“And Vashta Nerada…Run. Just run”

“Run? Run where?” River asked.

“This is an index point”, the Doctor stated “There must be an exit teleport somewhere”. He looked over at Lux.

“Don't look at me, I haven't memorised the schematics!” Lux defended.

“Doctor, the little shop!” Donna suddenly shouted “They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff”.

The Doctor ran to the door of the shop and peered inside “You're right. Brilliant!” he proclaimed “That's why I like the little shop”.

“Ok, let's move it”, Proper Dave said and started towards the shop when Alyssa spoke up.

“Proper Dave, you need to stop moving”

“Why?” he asked.

“I’m so sorry”, she said softly “But you've got two shadows”. They all look down and see that she was right. There was one shadow behind him and one at his side.

“It's how they hunt”, the Doctor added “They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh”.

“What do I do?” Proper Dave asked looking rather afraid.

“You stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room”, the Doctor told him “Like there's a million wasps”.

“We're not leaving you, Dave”, River promised.

“Course we're not leaving him! Where's your helmet?” the Doctor asked “Don't point, just tell me”.

“On the floor, by my bag”, Proper Dave replied, his voice trembling.

Anita moved to get the helmet when the Doctor called “Don't cross his shadow!”

The woman nodded and carefully made her way around Proper Dave, grabbing his helmet and handing it to the Doctor “Thanks. Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got”. The Time Lord put the helmet on Proper Dave, the others doing the same with the exception of River.

“But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets”, Donna pointed out.

“Yeah, but we're safe anyway”, the Doctor waved her off.

“How are we safe?” Donna frowned.

“We're not”, the Doctor replied “That was a clever lie to shut you up”.

Alyssa lightly tapped him on the arm. “Rude, dear”, she said.

“I’m still not ginger, love”, the Doctor countered. A small smile appeared on River’s face at that. 


	29. Silence in the Library part 4

The Doctor turned to River “Professor, anything I can do with the suit?” he asked.

“What good are the damn suits?” Lux demanded “Miss Evangelista was wearing her suit. There was nothing left!”

The Doctor just ignored him. “We can increase the mesh density”, River replied “Dial it up four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal”.

“Ok”, the Doctor said nodding and used his sonic on Proper Dave’s suit “Eight hundred percent. Pass it on”, he held out his sonic to River.

“Gotcha”, River said holding up a sonic screwdriver of her own.

“You have a sonic screwdriver?” Alyssa asked looking at it in surprise. She wasn’t the only one who was surprised, the Doctor was too.

“Yep”, River replied popping the p. She turned around and began sealing everyone else’s suits. The Doctor grabs Donna and Alyssa’s hands and pulled them away, towards the shop.

“What are we doing?” Donna asked confused as they entered the shop “We shopping? Is it a good time to shop?”

The Doctor just ignored her and gave her a gentle push onto the teleport pad “No talking, just moving”, he said “Try it. Right, stand there in the middle” the Doctor worked the controls while Alyssa watched “It's a teleport”, he explained “Stand in the middle. Can't send the others, TARDIS won't recognise them”.

“What are you doing?” Donna asked.

“Neither of you have suits”, the Doctor replied “You're not safe”.

“You don’t have a suit either Doctor”, Alyssa pointed out “so you're in just as much danger as we are”.

“She’s right and there’s no way I’m leaving you”, Donna said firmly.

“Donna, let me explain”, the Doctor began before he pressed a button on the control panel and Donna disappeared “Oh, that's how you do it”, he said lightly. The Doctor then turned to Alyssa.

“I’m not going”, she said before he could get another word out.

“Ali…”

“No Doctor, I’m NOT going”, Alyssa repeated firmly “With a little bit of effort, I can sense the Vashta Nerada. You can’t. You’re going to need every advantage possible”.

The Doctor sighed. She did make a very good point, he was going to need all the help he can get. And having someone who could sense the Vashta Nerada would be very big help indeed. But that did mean keeping her around…which made her a possible target. That was something he wasn’t comfortable with. At least if she was in the TARDIS he would know that she was safe.

However, he could tell that she wasn’t going to be swayed by her decision either. “All right but I want you to stick close to me, ok?” the Doctor said.

Alyssa nodded “ok, I’ll stick to you like glue”, she said earning a smile from the Doctor. 

“Doctor!” River called from the other room. The pair hurried out of the room to see that Proper Dave only had one shadow now.

“Where did it go?” the Doctor asked “Ali can you…?”

“Yeah”, Alyssa replied and closed her eyes.

“What is she doing?” Lux asked and River just shushed him.

“It's just gone”, Proper Dave insisted “I…I looked round, one shadow. See”.

“I don't know why we're still here”, Lux “We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence”.

Alyssa opened her eyes and looked at him annoyed. “No we can’t leave him. Now do me a favour and shut up. I’m actually trying to do something useful… unlike you”, she said crossly. Both the Doctor and River smirked at how she put Lux in his place.

“Now who’s being rude love?” the Doctor teased.

“Well… I am a red head which is pretty close to ginger. That means I’m allowed to be rude, dear”, Alyssa said with a smug smile.

The Doctor eyed Alyssa’s hair “so not fair”, he mumbled.

“Life unfortunately isn’t fair some times. Now if you all could shush, I need to concentrate”, Alyssa said and closed her eyes again.

“What is she doing?” Proper Dave asked “why does she need to concentrate?”

“She’s trying to sense the Vashta Nerada that had attached itself to you”, the Doctor answered.

“Well she doesn’t need to that because it’s gone”, Proper Dave said starting to turn in a circle.

“Stop there. Stop, stop, stop there. Stop moving!” the Doctor shouted “They're never just gone and they never give up”, he quickly added. He glanced at Alyssa who still had her eyes shut “Ali, you getting anything?”

Alyssa opened her eyes “yeah and it’s not good”, she sadly “Dave I’m so-“

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave suddenly said cutting Alyssa off.

“No one, they're fine”, the Doctor assured him.

“No seriously, turn them back on”, Proper Dave continued.

“They are on”, River insisted.

“Dave…turn around”, Alyssa said slowly. Proper Dave complied and they all saw that his visor was blacked out. Alyssa looked at him, trying to keep back the tears that were pricking in her eyes. She knew that there was no saving him. The Vashta Nerada had made him their second victim. “Dave…I’m so, so sorry”, she said quietly.

“Why are you apologising Lyssa?” Proper Dave asked.

“The Vashta Nerada are in your suit…and I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do”, Alyssa said solemnly. The moment she said that, Proper Dave stiffened and his comm unit lights blink.

“He's gone. He's ghosting”, River said sadly. A tear runs down Alyssa’s cheek and the Doctor puts an arm around her.

“Then why is he still standing?” Lux asked. _That was a very good question_ Alyssa thought wiping her tears away.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave suddenly asked again, much to everyone’s surprise. He wasn’t acting the way Miss Evangelista did in her final moments as she was ghosting. “Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“Doctor, don't”, River warned as the Doctor cautiously walked forward, Alyssa watching him warily.

“Dave, can you hear me?” the Doctor asked.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave repeated before he reached out, grabbed hold of the Doctor by the throat and started to choke him.

“Ali no!” River cried as Alyssa raised her hand. But it was too late, she lashed out with a blast of physic energy, forcing Proper Dave to release the Doctor. Alyssa cringed from the pain in her head as the Doctor stood up.

“You shouldn’t have done that”, the Doctor said.

“You can tell me off later, right now we need to make some distance between us and him”, Alyssa said nodding to Proper Dave who was now slowly inching his way towards them.

“She’s right”, River agreed.

“What do we do? Where do we go?” Lux asked panicking as four shadows stretched out from Proper Dave’s feet.

“See that wall behind you?” River shouted “Duck!” she blasted the wall with a small blaster as Lux ducked, creating a square hole in it.

“Squareness gun!” the Doctor cheered.

“That’s pretty cool”, Alyssa remarked.

“Glad you like it but now we really do need to move”, River said and they all ran out of the room, through the hole River had just made.

“You said not every shadow”, River reminded the Doctor.

“But _any_ shadow”, he said.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave said appearing behind them.

“I can-“ Alyssa started.

“No”, the Doctor said firmly grabbing her hand and started to run. River and the others following.

\------------------

~Stacks~

“Why didn’t you let me slow him down?” Alyssa asked when they stopped running “you know I can do it, I’ve done it before”.

“And every time you use your powers, it hurts you”, the Doctor said. He placed a hand on her cheek “I hate seeing you get hurt”, he added “so please don’t use it unless you absolutely have to. Promise me”.

Alyssa could clearly sense his worry and it made her feel bad. She didn’t like making him worry, she only wanted to help. “Ok, I promise”, she said. And she would stick to that promise. Unless the Doctor or Donna was in trouble…then promise be damned. The Doctor dropped a kiss onto the top of her head before he grabbed a nearby stool, setting it down beneath a hanging light. “What are you doing?” Alyssa asked as he started to sonic the light.

“Trying to boost the power”, the Doctor replied “Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down”, he explained.

“So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?” River asked not really waiting for an answer before the pulled out her own sonic and used it on the light. It grew brighter.

“You know, that sonic of yours looks an awful lot like the Doctor’s”, Alyssa remarked eyeing it.

“She’s right”, the Doctor agreed getting down from the stool “it does”.

“Yeah. You gave it to me”, River said.

“I don't give my screwdriver to anyone”, the Doctor informed her “unless…you happen to be my girlfriend”, he added nodding to Alyssa.

“I'm not anyone”, River said.

“Who are you?” the Doctor asked.

“What's the plan?” River questioned. Alyssa wondered why she was avoiding answering the Doctor’s question.

“I teleported Donna back to the TARDIS”, the Time Lord said “If we don't get back there in under five hours, emergency program one will activate”.

“Take her home, yeah”, River nodded. She turned to the rest of the group “We need to get a shift on”.

The Doctor looked at the sonic screwdriver, concerned “She's not there. I should have received a signal”, he said “The console signals me if there's a teleport breach”.  

“Well, maybe the coordinates have slipped. The equipment here's ancient”, River told him.

The Doctor went over to a nearby Node. “Donna Noble. There's a Donna Noble somewhere in this library. Do you have the software to locate her position?” he asked. Alyssa gasped when the Node turned around to reveal that it had Donna’s face.

“Donna Noble has left the library”, the Node stated “Donna Noble has been saved”.

“Donna, no”, Alyssa breathed staring at the Node, horrified.

“Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved”

“How can it be Donna? How's that possible?” River asked.

“Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved”

The Doctor could only stare at the Node devastated.

“Donna Noble has left the library”

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave’s voice echoed over to them as he appeared at the end of the aisle. The Doctor and Alyssa were too preoccupied by the Node to notice him though.

“Doctor!” River shouted “Lyssa!”

“Donna Noble has been saved”

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“Donna Noble has left the library”

“Doctor, Lyssa, we've got to go now!” River shouted running forward, grabbing their arms and pulling them back to the rest of the group.

“Donna Noble has been saved”, the Node continued to repeat.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave asked as he lumbered along forcing the group to run. They raced along aisles, Proper Dave chasing after them. The group came skidding to a stop when they reached a dead end.

“Doctor, what are we going to do?” River asked trying to keep calm. Though it was difficult as they were trapped between the shadows. No way out.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave asked as he grew closer.

“Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved”

**To be continued….**


	30. Forest of the Dead part 1

River blasted a hole in the wall behind them and they all hurried through it, running along the dimly lit corridor behind the wall. The group entered a large room bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. Almost immediately the Doctor got out his sonic and started checking the shadows.

“There's no lights here. Sunset's coming”, River stated “We can't stay long. Have you found a live one?” she asked the Time Lord.

“Maybe”, he replied “It's getting harder to tell” he taps his sonic crossly “What's wrong with you?” he grumbled.

“Lyssa you think you can check?” River asked the red head.

“No problem”, Alyssa said closing her eyes and concentrating. After a couple of minutes she pointed at the shadow that the Doctor had been trying to scan. “There’s one. It’s fairly strong”, Alyssa reported opening her eyes.

“They won't attack until there's enough of them”, the Doctor said “But they've got our scent now”, he added warningly “They're coming”. He turned to Alyssa “recon you could try to sense if there are any nearby?”

“I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be able to but I can try”, Alyssa said and moved off to another patch of shadows, closing her eyes once more. The Doctor went with her.

“Who are they?” Other Dave asked River the moment the pair were out of earshot “You haven't even told us. You just expect us to trust them?”

“She’s Lyssa and he’s the Doctor”, River said vaguely.

“And who are Lyssa and the Doctor?” Lux demanded.

“The only story you'll ever tell…if you survive him”, River said nodding at the Time Lord.

“You say they’re your friends, but they don't even know who you are”, Anita pointed out.

“Listen, all you need to know is this: I'd trust those two to the end of the universe”, River said “And actually, we've been”.

“The Doctor doesn’t act like he trusts you”, Anita remarked recalling the way the Doctor had a go at River earlier.

“Yeah, there's a tiny problem. He hasn't met me yet” and with that River walked over to the Doctor and Alyssa. The former was now fiddling with the sonic while the latter watched. “What's wrong with it?” she asked.

“There's a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with it”, the Doctor replied.

“Then use the red settings”, River suggested.

“It doesn't have a red setting”, the Doctor said.

“Well, use the dampers”

The Doctor frowned. His sonic didn’t have dampers “It doesn't have dampers”, he told her.

“It will do one day”, River said holding her sonic out.

“So, sometime in the future, I just give you my screwdriver”, the Doctor said as he took it from her, giving it a quick once over.

“Yeah”

“Why would he do that?” Alyssa asked.

“I didn’t pluck it from his cold dead hands”, River assured her “if that's what you're worried about”.

“And I know that because….” The Doctor said giving River a suspicious look. There was no way he would’ve given his sonic to her voluntarily.

“Listen to me. You've lost your friend. You're angry. I understand”, River said softening her tone “But you need to be less emotional, Doctor, right now”.

“Less emo-I'm not emotional!” the Doctor shouted.

“Yes you are dear”, Alyssa said quietly having picked up on his turbulent emotions while trying to sense if there are any Vashta Nerada nearby. She touched his arm “there’s 6 people in this room still alive, let’s focus on that. Ok?”

The Doctor nodded, feeling calmer under her touch. “Ok”, he agreed.

River shook her head at his shift in attitude. Thank god Alyssa was here to calm him down. “Dear God, you're hard work young”, she remarked lightly.

“Young? Who _are_ you?!” the Doctor demanded, glaring at the woman, his anger coming back.

“Oh, for heaven's sake!” Lux cried “Look at the pair of you! We're all going to die right here, and you're just squabbling like an old married couple”.

A flash of disgust appeared briefly on River's face. She quickly disguised it, turning her attention back to the Doctor. “Doctor…one day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry…I'm really very sorry” she whispered something into the Doctor’s ear, the latter looking rather stunned as she stepped away.

 It was his name. She’d whispered his name. How did she know that? There was only ever one time he could say his name… the he was allowed to say his name. And the person he would tell was most definitely NOT River Song.

The Doctor swallowed, regaining his composure “You shouldn't know that”, he stated “only _one_ person is allowed to know, and that's not you". Well, technically more than one person was allowed to know a Time Lord/Lady’s true name. Not only can your lover/spouse know but their children can know too. Plus relatives are allowed to know as well. Professor River Song didn't fall into any of those categories.

That is a far as he knew. One category he was certain River didn't fall into was lover/spouse. That was reserved for Alyssa alone. He didn't think she was his future daughter either as he didn't feel a familial connection towards her, like he should've done. Well...he did with his son back on Gallifrey. Not so much with Jenny, at least not to start with. But with River there was nothing.

And of course there was the most obvious clue. He couldn't sense that she was a Time Lady. Which excluded her from the future children category. And it also removed her from relative category.

“I know”, River said taking her sonic back and walked away to re-join the rest of the crew.

Alyssa wanted to know what River said to him to get that reaction but decided not to ask as she could feel how angry he felt. Whatever it was had upset him in some way. But she would wait for him to tell her if and when he was ready to do so. _Change the subject Ali_ she thought. “So that signal which is interfering with the sonic has to be pretty strong, right?” she asked “I didn’t think anything could mess with it”.

“Well, there are some hairdryers that can”, the Doctor told her.

“I don’t think anybody is drying their hair in here”, Alyssa said.

“Nope but something is messing with it, and it wasn’t there before”, the Doctor said “So what's new? What's changed?” he questioned. The group just looked at each other. Alyssa, on the other hand was glancing around the room trying to figure out what it could be “Come on!” he urged “What's new? What's different?”

“I dunno know”, Other Dave shook his head “Nothing. It's getting dark?” he guessed.

The Doctor rolled his eyes “It's a screwdriver. It works in the dark”, he said.

“Actually Doctor, I think Other Dave has a point”, Alyssa said “It _is_ getting dark and there’s that” she pointed up at the moon.

The Doctor followed her gaze upwards “Tell me about the moon. What's there?” he asked.

“It's not real. It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon”, Lux replied.

The Doctor looked at him “What's a Doctor Moon?”

“A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet”, Lux explained.

The Doctor raised his sonic and tested it on the moon “Well, still active. It's signalling. Look. Someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through-“

“Donna!” Alyssa exclaimed seeing a projection of Donna appear before them.  The Doctor barley gets a glimpse of the ginger before she vanished.

“That was her. That was your friend!” River shouted “Can you get her back? What was that?”

“Hold on, hold on, hold on”, the Doctor muttered scanning the area where Donna appeared. Behind him Alyssa stiffened and turned towards Anita. Her eyes widened. “I'm trying to find the wavelength. Argh, I'm being blocked”, the Time Lord grumbled.

Anita met Alyssa’s eyes, she could both see and feel that the woman was terrified. “Professor?” Anita called shakily.

“Just a moment”, River called.

“Actually River, this is very important”, Alyssa spoke up “Anita has two shadows”.

River looked over at the woman in question, concerned. “Okay. Helmets on, everyone”, she ordered “Anita, I'll get yours”.

“It didn't do Proper Dave any good”, Anita said tearfully.

“It’s gonna be ok Anita”, Alyssa assured her as River picked up the woman’s helmet.

“I don’t see how. I’m going to die Lyssa”, Anita sniffled. River put the helmet on her.

“Hang on”, the Doctor said and used his sonic on Anita’s visor, turning it black.

River gasped “Oh God, they've got inside”.

The Doctor shook his head “I just tinted her visor”, he said “Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone”.

“Do you think they can be fooled like that?” River asked, sceptically.

The Doctor shrugged “Maybe. I don't know. It's a swarm. It's not like we chat”, he said.

“Can you still see in there?” Other Dave asked Anita.

“Just about”, Anita replied, her voice slightly muffled.

“Just…just…just stay back”, the Doctor warned. He then turned to River and Alyssa “Professor, Ali, a quick word, please”.

“What?” River asked.

“Down here”, the Doctor said taking Alyssa’s hand and leading her over to the edge of the light, River following. The trio crouch down.

“What is it Doctor?” Alyssa asked in a hushed voice as to not be over heard by the others.

“Earlier you said there are six people still alive in this room”, the Doctor said.

“I did”, Alyssa confirmed, wondering where he was going with this.

“So, why are there seven?” the Doctor whispered and looked over at the opening. Alyssa and River follow his gaze and see Proper Dave. He’d found them.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“Run!” the Doctor shouted.


	31. Forest of the Dead part 2

The group raced along a walkway, the Doctor’s hand clutching tightly onto Alyssa’s. When they got part way, the Time Lord suddenly stopped. “Professor, go ahead. Find a safe spot. Ali, go with her”, the Doctor said.

“No way, I’m not going anywhere”, Alyssa said firmly.

“Ali please”, the Doctor pleaded with both his voice and emotions, hoping she’d listen to one of them “I need you safe”.

“And I need you safe”, Alyssa shot back ignoring what she was sensing from the Doctor. It was rather a cheap trick using her own abilities against her like that. “I’m staying put whether you like it or not”

The Doctor looked at the determined expression on her face and sighed “fine”, he said. He didn’t like it but she was adamant about staying. “We’ll both stay. Professor, _you_ need to go”.

“It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit. You can't reason with it!” River protested.

“Five minutes”, the Doctor told her.

River huffed crossly, knowing that he wasn’t going to change his mind “Other Dave, stay with them, pull him out when he’s too stupid to live” River nodded at the Time Lord “Lyssa usually has a better sense of self-preservation…probably the psychic in her” River looked straight at the Doctor “ _Two_ minutes!” and with that she, Anita and lux ran off. Moments later Proper Dave arrived.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” he asked as he advanced.

“Stay here”, the Doctor said to Alyssa giving her a look before he ran up to Proper Dave. “You hear that?” he asked “Those words? That is the very last thought of the man who wore that suit before you climbed inside and stripped his flesh. That's a man's soul trapped inside a neural relay, going round and round forever. Now, if you don't have the decency to let him go, how ‘bout this? Use him. Talk to me. It's easy. Neural relay. Just point and think. Use him” the Doctor urged “talk to me”.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave repeated.

“The Vashta Nerada live on all the worlds in this system, but you hunt in forests”, the Doctor continued “What are you doing in a library?”

“We should go Lyssa”, Other Dave said to the red head.

Alyssa turned to him “the Doctor can do this, just give him a minute”, she said. She turned back to watch the conversation that was happening in front of her, completely missing the shadow creeping up behind Other Dave…

“You came to the library to hunt”, the Doctor stated “Why? Just tell me why?”

“We…did…not”, the Vashta Nerada replied.

“Oh, hello”, the Doctor said pleased that they were getting somewhere. Behind Alyssa, Other Dave shuddered as the Vashta Nerada consumed him. The red head was too focused on the Doctor that she was very unaware of the danger that was standing a about foot behind her.

“We did not-“ the Vashta Nerada repeated.

“Take it easy, you'll get the hang of it”, the Doctor said “Did not what?”

“We…did not…come here”

“Well, of course you did. Of course you came here”, the Doctor shook his head.

“We come _from_ here”, the Vashta Nerada corrected.

“From here?” the Doctor asked with a frown.

“We hatched here”

“But you hatch from trees. From spores in trees”, the Doctor argued.

“These are our forests”

“You're nowhere near a forest. Look around you”, the Doctor gestured about him.

“These are our forests”, the Vashta Nerada repeated. Alyssa’s eyes widened when it hit her. Paper from the books were filled with spores that contained the Vashta Nerada! That’s how the Library is their forest! The books are their ‘trees’! She opened her mouth to tell the Doctor this when she suddenly stiffened.

Alyssa slowly turned around and gasped at what she saw. Other Dave was no longer Other Dave. The Vashta Nerada had taken him too. She started to back away when a shadow stretched out from Other Dave, intent of making her its next victim.

“Doctor! We have a bit of a problem!” Alyssa called. The Time Lord spun around to see Alyssa backing away from Other Dave and his ‘shadow’ which was trying to grab her. The Doctor ran forward, grabbed her, pulling her close to him. “Now what do we do?” she asked, a tremble in her voice. The Doctor glanced at Proper Dave then back at Other Dave, his mind racing a million miles an hour thinking about how they were going to get out.

As he glanced back at Proper Dave again, he noticed a trap door just behind them. “Ali do you trust me?”

Alyssa glanced up at him “Always”, she replied without an ounce of hesitation.

The Doctor smiled at her, pleased that she didn’t hesitate in saying that. “Just follow my lead”, he murmured quietly. Keeping one arm around Alyssa, the Doctor addressed both Daves. “Thing about me, I'm stupid”, he said slowly inching towards the trap door with Alyssa “I talk too much. Always babbling on”.

“Well, I love it when you ramble”, Alyssa said.

“I know you do", the Doctor said giving her a smile. He looked at the two Daves “and this gob of mine doesn't stop for anything. Well...only one thing. A kiss from my brilliant Ali. Though I don't think you wanna kiss me right now do you?”

“Not really”, Alyssa replied “but if we get out of this in one piece, then a little _adventure_ is in order". The Doctor could've snogged her right then and there for what she'd just suggested. Instead he settled for a grin. He was so looking forward to getting back to the TARDIS now.

He turned his attention back to the Daves, still with a grin on his face “Want to know the only reason I'm still alive?” he asked “Always stay near the door”. The Doctor soniced the trap door and the pair fell through the hole. Both Daves looked down to see a long drop. Unbeknownst to either of them, the Time Lord and human were still alive, hanging onto the support strut, out of sight.

The two of them hung there, waiting for the two Daves to leave. As soon as they left, the Doctor and Alyssa clambered through the trapdoor, the Time Lord going first so that he could help his girlfriend up.

“Did you mean it love?” the Doctor asked, placing his hands on her hips “about the _adventure_?”

“Of course I did”, Alyssa answered “why? Don’t you want to?”

In response to that question, the Doctor kissed her long and hard “oh I want to”, he murmured against her mouth “I really, really want to”.

“Good”, Alyssa said pressing her lips against his in a quick kiss “now I think we’d better get back to the others. It’s been more than two minutes, you know”. The Doctor nodded, took her hand and walked down the walkway.

\-----------------

~Reading room~

“You know it’s funny, I keep wishing the Doctor and Lyssa were here”, River remarked as she checked the shadows with her sonic.

“They are here, aren’t they?” Anita asked “they are coming back, right?”

River turned off her sonic and turned to the woman “You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them, and it's like they're not quite…finished. They're not done yet. Well…yes, they are here. They came when I called, just like he always does. But not _my_ Doctor and certainly not _my_ Lyssa. Now _them_ … I’ve seen whole armies turn and run away from the Doctor. And Lyssa…what can I say?” a smile graced River’s face “she’s _brilliant_. Those two…were just mean for each other. And when is all said and done; the Doctor will just swagger off back to his TARDIS with his girl and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor and Lyssa…in the Tardis…next stop: everywhere”.

“Spoilers!” the Doctor shouted stepping into the room with Alyssa “Nobody can open a Tardis by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that”.

“It does for the Doctor”, River smirked “and Lyssa doesn’t need to do even that. The box will open its doors as soon as she’s close enough”.

Alyssa frowned at that. Yes she may have some sort of bond with the TARDIS which allowed the box to communicate with her telepathically but she didn’t think the bond would be that strong where she doesn’t need a key to get inside.

“I _am_ the Doctor”

“Yeah”, River scoffed “Someday”.

Alyssa walked over to Anita “How are you doing?” she asked gently.

“As well as can be considering the situation”, Anita replied honestly “speaking of, why haven’t they gotten me yet?”

“Probably the tint on your visor”, Alyssa guessed noting that she still had _two_ shadows. The Vashta Nerada had only latched onto her, they hadn’t yet consumed her. “Must be making a difference if you’ve still got two shadows”

“It's making a difference all right”, Anita remarked “No one's ever going to see my face again”.

“Can I get you anything?” the Doctor asked stepping up beside Alyssa.

“An old age would be nice” Anita laughed “Anything you can do?”

“I'm all over it”, the Doctor promised.

“I’m gonna see if I can sense any Vashta Nerada nearby”, Alyssa said picking up a vibe from Anita which told her that she wanted to say something else but only to the Doctor.

“Be careful”, the Doctor said.

“I will”, Alyssa promised and walked off, both River and the Doctor watching her go.

“Doctor…” Anita said as soon as Alyssa was out of ear shot “When we first met you, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered a word in your ear, and you did. My life so far…I could do with a word like that. What did she say?” she paused “Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me”.

“Safe”, the Doctor repeated a thought just occurring to him.

“What?” Anita asked confused.

“Safe”, he said again “You don't say ‘saved’. Nobody says, ‘saved’. You say ‘safe’” the Doctor turned to Lux “The data fragment! What did it say?” he demanded.

“4022 people saved. No survivors”, Lux recited.

Alyssa turned around, sensing the Doctor getting worked up “Doctor? What’s wrong?” she asked walking back to him, not having heard the conversation.

“Nothing’s wrong, except for the message. It said 4022 people _saved_ ”, the Doctor replied.

Alyssa frowned “but that doesn’t sound right. Surely it would say ‘safe’ not ‘saved’”, she said. When River had first told them the message something about it didn’t seem quite right but now it had been repeated, she understood.

“Exactly! Nobody says saved. Nutters say saved. You say safe. You see, it didn't mean safe. It meant, it literally meant…saved!”

The Doctor rushed over to an information terminal and began typing. “See, there it is, right there”, he said pointing to a date on the archival log “100 years ago, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out”.

“It tried to teleport 4022 people?” River asked.

“It succeeded”, the Doctor corrected “Pulled them all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. Four thousand and twenty two people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?”

“It saved them”, Alyssa replied.

“Precisely”, the Doctor said before running over to a large table, pushing the books out of the way and starting to draw on its surface. “The Library. A whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved 4022 people the only way a computer can. It saved them…to the hard drive”, he explained.

Suddenly an alarm sounded.

“What is it?” Lux asked looking up “What's wrong?”

 _Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes_ a computerised voice announced _Maximum erasure_.


	32. Forest of the Dead part 3

“What's maximum erasure?” River asked.

“In twenty minutes, this planet's going to crack like an egg”, the Doctor replied. Alyssa’s eyes widened at that.

“Oh god", she breathed.

“No. No, it's all right”, Lux said quickly “The Doctor Moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect CAL".

Suddenly the terminal screen goes blank. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” the Doctor shouted. 

 _All Library systems are permanently offline_ the computer announced _Sorry for any inconvenience. Shortly…_

“We need to stop this. We've got to save CAL!” Lux cried.

“What _is_ CAL?” Alyssa asked.

“We need to get to the main computer”, Lux replied “I'll show you”.

“It's at the core of the planet”, the Doctor told him.

“Well, then. Let's go”, River said. She pointed her sonic at the floor and it opened up “Gravity platform”, she explained.

“I bet we like you”, the Doctor remarked.

“Oh, you do”, River agreed.

The four of them step into the gravity platform.

\-------------------

~Data core~

_Autodestruct in fifteen minutes_

The Doctor and Alyssa look up at the large globe filled with swirling energy. “The data core”, the Doctor said “Over four thousand living minds trapped inside it”

“They're not going to be living for much longer”, Alyssa said looking at the globe worriedly.

“She's right", River agreed “We're running out of time”.

As soon as they stepped off of the platform, the Doctor headed straight for an access terminal.

“Help me. Please, help me”, a young female voice called, seemingly from everywhere.

“What's that?” Anita asked unable to see anything due to her visor being tinted.

“Was that a child?” River questioned looking around, trying to pinpoint the source.

“The computer's in sleep mode”, the Doctor said as he typed away “I can't wake it up. I'm trying”.

“Doctor, these readings…” River said pointing to it on the screen.

“I know” the Doctor frowned at it “You'd think it was dreaming”.

“It _is_ dreaming…” Lux corrected “of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written”. Alyssa glanced at him curiously sensing a lot of emotions from him. Sadness...Love…

 _Why would he feel those things for a computer unless…_ her green eyes widened when she realised “Mr Lux”, she said slowly “CAL is a little girl, isn't she?”

The man met her eyes and nodded. He pulled a lever in a cabinet and ran into the next room the moment the door slid open. Alyssa was quick to follow him, the others not far behind her.

A node turns to face them. It has the face of the little girl that they’d all seen in the computer.

“Please help me”, the girl begged “Please help me”.

“Oh, my God”, River gasped. Alyssa stared at the girl sadly, her heart aching. She loved children, always had a soft spot for them. And to see this girl in distress, pleading for help…it hurt. The Doctor could see how much this was affecting the red head.

He turned to Lux “Cal is a child?” he asked, his anger rising. He wouldn’t stand for anything making his girl upset and _this_ was most definitely doing just that “A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!”

“Because she's family!” Lux shouted back. He took a breath and continued, his tone much calmer than before “CAL. Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything, and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show”.

“So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her”, the Doctor said finally understanding.

“This is only half a life, of course. But it's for ever”

“And then the shadows came”, the Doctor said.

“The shadows”, Charlotte gasped “I have to….I have to save. Have to save….”

“She saved them”, Alyssa murmured not looking away from Charlotte “tucked them away into her dream world”.

“Then why didn't she tell us?” Anita asked.

“Because she's forgotten”, the Doctor replied “She's got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like…being, well, me”. That got a glance from Alyssa. She knew about the mental connection Time Lords had to one another…they could literally sense each other. But with them all gone, the quiet must be deafening to him. Alyssa could, in away understand how he felt, her abilities connected her to people in a similar way. While it can be overwhelming at times…she didn’t think she could be without it.

“So, what do we do?” River asked.

 _Autodestruct in ten minutes_ the computer announced.

“Easy!” the Doctor shouted running back to the terminal “We beam all the people out of the data core. The computer will reset and stop the countdown” he frowned at the readings on the terminal screen “Ok, Charlotte doesn’t have enough memory space left to make the transfer” he went over to the banks of wires, examined them for a moment before he grinned “I'll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space”.

“He can do that?” Alyssa asked River.

The curly haired woman shook her head “No, he can’t. It’ll kill him”, River replied. Alyssa’s heart stopped at that. The Doctor was everything to her, she couldn’t lose him!

“Are you absolutely sure?” Alyssa asked, her voice shaky. River just gave her a sad look. The red head glanced at the Doctor, an angry expression appeared on her face. River didn’t stop her from storming over to the Doctor. He needed someone to talk some sense into him and if there was one person who was capable of that, it was Alyssa.

“Are you trying to kill me?” she demanded.

“I’m sorry?” the Doctor asked confused wondering why she was suddenly so angry.

“River told me you won’t survive”, Alyssa said angrily “this is like the Sontarans all over again! That time nearly killed me Doctor. And if you do this…if you die…it really will kill me” tears started to well up in her eyes “I love you Doctor! You are everything to me! And I cannot lose you!”

The Doctor watched as she broke down in tears. It hurt his hearts to see her this way and it was worse as _he_ was the reason for her tears. He stepped up to her, putting his arms around her “I’ll try my hardest not to die”, he said quietly “I don’t want to leave you behind. You’re everything to me too”.

He looked over at River “You and Luxy boy go back up to the main library”, he said “Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download” when River opened her mouth to argue, he added sternly “Just do it River”.

“Oh, I hate you sometimes”, the woman grumbled.

“I know”, the Doctor countered.

“Mr Lux, with me!” River turned and pulled Lux away “Anita, if he dies, I'll kill him!”

The pair walked out, leaving Anita with the Doctor and Alyssa.

“What about the Vashta Nerada?” the woman asked.

The Doctor looked over at her, still holding onto Alyssa “These are their forests”, he said “I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content”.

“It’s not her anymore”, Alyssa mumbled into the Doctor’s chest, the Time Lord in question just about hearing her. He knew what she meant by that, she’d sensed that the Vashta Nerada had eaten Anita. He _had_ suspected as much when he noticed that she only had _one_ shadow but Alyssa confirmed his suspicions. 

“So, you think they're just going to let us go?” Anita asked.

“Best offer they're going to get”, the Doctor replied.

“You're going to make 'em an offer?” Anita questioned.

“They'd better take it, because right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all”, the Doctor stepped away from Alyssa, turning to the suit with a glare “You know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying. And she never gave in” he walked up to the suit, taking out his sonic “And you ate her” he flashed the sonic, clearing the visor to reveal the skeleton inside “But I'm going to let that pass, just as long as you let them pass”.

“How long have you known?” the Vashta Nerada asked.

“I counted the shadows”, the Doctor answered “You only have one now. She's nearly gone. Be kind”.

“These are our forests”, the Vashta Nerada “We are not kind”.

“I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me _them_ ”, the Doctor said firmly “You are letting them go”.

“These are our forests. They are our meat”, the Vashta Nerada stated. Shadows stretch out from it towards the Doctor. Alyssa watched nervously wanting to pull him away but she also knew that he could handle this. So, she stayed put.

“Don't play games with me”, the Doctor said angrily “You just killed someone I liked. That is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up”.

The shadows halt for a moment before they retreat back into the suit. “You have one day”, the Vashta Nerada said. The suit collapsed just as River walked back through the hall.

“Anita!” she shouted.

“I'm sorry. She's been dead a while now”, the Doctor said “and I told you to go!”

“Lux can manage without me”, River said, striding over to him “but you can't”. She punched him, knocking him unconscious.

“What the hell was that for!” Alyssa demanded. She rushed over to the Doctor, kneeling beside him to make sure that he was ok.

“I’m really sorry Lyssa”, River said apologetically before she pressed a sleep patch to the red head’s neck. Alyssa slumped down next to the Time Lord.


	33. Forest of the Dead part 4

The Doctor winced as he slowly regained consciousness only to realise that he was handcuffed to a pillar a few feet away from a chair that River was sitting on, currently connecting wires together. He looked behind him to see Alyssa lying a foot away. Unlike him, she wasn’t handcuffed but she did have a sleep patch on her which is why she wasn’t awake yet.

“She’ll be fine”, River called watching him straining with the cuffs trying to see if Alyssa was ok “that sleep patch is a weak one, she’ll be awake soon” The Doctor looked over at River “I could never hit her”, she added as an after-thought. The Doctor stared at her for a moment before he realised what she was doing.

“Oh, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job!” he cried.

“Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?” River joked.

The Doctor jiggled the handcuff “Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?” he asked.

“Spoilers”, River said with a smirk.

“This is not a joke. Stop this now”, the Doctor ordered struggling even more in the handcuffs “This is going to kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any”.

“You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I”, River shot back “But at least this way the two of you will be together, the way it’s supposed to be” she swallowed hard “I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download”.

“River, please! No!” the Doctor pleaded.

“Funny thing is, this means two have always known how I was going to die”, River said looking at him tears in her eyes “All the time we've been together, you both knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean…” she sniffled “you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. Lyssa looked stunning as always. The pair of you took be to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. Oh, what a night that was”, River smiled slightly, reminiscing “The Towers sang, you held Lyssa and you both cried”.

_Autodestuct in one minute_

“Neither of you would tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the Library. You even gave me your screwdriver. And Lyssa…she said goodbye to me. She never says goodbye. It’s always…”

“See you later”, the Doctor said.

“Yeah” River nodded. She sighed “that should’ve been the biggest clue”.

The Doctor glanced back over at Alyssa who was still unconscious. If she’d been awake, she could’ve given him the sonic, which coincidently was placed next to the red head. 

“There's nothing you can do”, River said sadly.

“You can let me do this”, he urged.

“If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you”, River stated “or her” she nodded to Alyssa.

“Time can be rewritten”, the Doctor argued.

“Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare”, River warned “It's okay. It's okay”, she said softly “It's not over for either of you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and Lyssa and me, time and space. You watch us run”.

“River, you know my name”, the Doctor began “But there’s no way I’d tell you because you’re not her” he nodded at Alyssa “so how do you know it?”

_Autodestruct in ten…_

“Hush now”, River said gently.

_Seven…._

“You’ll find out when you’re older”.

_Five, four…_

“Take care of her Doctor”, River added.

_three…two, one_

River joins two power cables together and there is a blinding white light. Her eyes widened when a very familiar person appeared right in front of her. The woman smiled, reached out and latched onto her wrist. The pair of them disappeared.

\-------------------

The Doctor stood by the door in the back of the reception watching the people River had saved be teleported away. Alyssa stood by his side watching them too. Silently, the Doctor wound an arm around her waist pulling her up against his side. Alyssa didn’t say anything, she knew he needed to comfort and so she put an arm around his waist too.

“Any luck?” she asked Donna as the ginger approached. Apparently in the dream world, she’d been married to a lovely man called Lee and she wanted to see if she could find him amongst the survivors.

Donna shook her head “There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the Library that day”, she said disappointed “I suppose he could have had a different name out here, but, let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?”

“Maybe not”, the Doctor replied.

“I made up the perfect man”, Donna muttered “Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?”

“Doesn’t say anything about you Donna”, Alyssa said “we all dream of the perfect man. Even me”.

“I suppose you don’t need to do that anymore, do you?” Donna asked with a smile.

“No, I don’t”, Alyssa replied “so long as _someone_ thinks twice before doing anything that could get him killed”.

“Don’t worry love. I will”, the Doctor promised dropping a kiss on top of her head.

“So…are you alright?” Donna asked carefully. She knew River’s death had upset the pair of them greatly.

“Are you all right?”

“I'm always all right”, the Doctor replied.

“Is ‘all right special’ Time Lord code for…’really not all right at all’?” Donna asked.

“Why?” the Doctor asked.

“Because I'm all right, too”, Donna replied.

“Come on”, the Doctor said unwinding his arm from around Alyssa’s waist so he could take her hand. The trio then walked away.

~Graveyard~

River stumbled slightly when she and the other woman reappeared. “Why did you come?” she asked “It was my time to go, you knew that”.

“Yes, I did”, the woman said trying to supress a smile.

“So why on earth did you come Lyssa?” River demanded “you could’ve ruined everything”.

Alyssa smiled “I _know_ I wasn’t going to ruin everything. Thanks to you, those 4022 people are safe. And as for it being your time to go, you are absolutely correct. It _is_ your time… but not in the way you think”. She gestured to River’s hands.

River looked down at them, her eyes widening at the golden light shimmering around them. She glanced up at Alyssa who gave her a smile, taking a large step backwards. River threw her arms up and golden regeneration energy exploded from her body.

When it faded, she stumbled forwards, falling onto her knees. Alyssa carefully helped her up. “How do you feel?” she asked.

“Different”, River replied “but in a good way”. It seemed her entire life had been laid out in front of her, from her birth all the way up to her ‘death’ at the Library. But now she felt free!

“Wanna see what you look like?” Alyssa asked fishing out a mirror from her pocket. River took it, opened it up and almost gaped at her reflection. Gone was the wild curly hair. It was now longer with loose curls…and it was ginger! River glanced up at Alyssa and smiled.

“I’m ginger”, she stated “the Doctor isn’t going to like that”.

Alyssa laughed “no he certainly won’t”, she agreed. River looked back at her reflection, noting how she was paler than before. “So, what do you think of the new you?”

“It’ll take some getting used to but I like it”, River replied giving back the mirror.

“Now you’ve regenerated are you going to stick with River Song?” Alyssa asked “or go back to Melody Pond?”

“I’m not sure”, River replied “Melody Pond”, she said and cringed. She didn’t like the way that sounded coming from her new mouth “River Song”. Nope that didn’t sound right either. “Neither sound right to me anymore”, she admitted.

“That’s alright, we’ll figure it out. But first we better get you some clothes. Can’t really walk around in that space suit for the rest of your regeneration, you know”, Alyssa said “unless that’s what the new you likes?”

River shook her head “I don’t know what kind of thing the new me likes to wear but its certainly not this”, she replied.

“Ok, lets get you some clothes. I know just the place”, Alyssa took hold of River’s wrist and tapped a button on the vortex manipulator strapped to her own. The pair vanished again.

~Ali and Sarah’s house~

“We should be able to find some things in here that can fit you”, Alyssa said, rummaging through her mother’s stuff “that is until we get a chance to go through the TARDIS wardrobe”.

It took a good hour of sorting through clothes before River finally decided on a pair of light blue jeans and a white short sleeve button up shirt. She also borrowed a pair of trainers although she wasn’t a big fan. She wanted black knee high boots but Sarah didn’t have any, neither did Alyssa, in what little she had left in her room. River also fancied a black leather jacket but there wasn’t one in either Palmer women’s wardrobes. So she settled for a simple black hoodie, making a note to get herself an jacket and boots. For the moment River left her new long ginger hair loose. She nodded at her reflection. _Yeah this looks good_ she thought.

“What do you think?” she asked turning to Alyssa.

“I like it”, Alyssa replied “and think I’ve come up with a new name for you. Harmony Brooke. Its different but keeps in with the rest of your names”.

“Harmony Brooke”, River repeated. She liked the sound of that. “That’s who I’ll be now, Harmony Brooke”.

“You may want this”, she said holding out a new sonic screwdriver “doesn’t have the bells and whistles like the one you did have at the Library but it works just fine”. River took it from her and pressed the button. The tip lit up with a green light.

“Thank you Lyssa”, she said pocketing it.

“You’re welcome. Oh, and you might want this too” Alyssa held out a green book. River took it, noting that it was very much like the one she had before only a different colour.

River looked up at Alyssa and smiled, touched by both gifts. “New book for a new life”, she said.

“Exactly”, Alyssa agreed “now how about a cup of tea? I dunno about you but I could do with one”.

“That sounds great”, River agreed. Alyssa nodded, turned and left the room.

River turned back to the mirror, a smile gracing her face.

_Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not everyday. Some days are special. On these days, miracles tend to happen...._


	34. I love you (lemon)

As soon as the Doctor set the TARDIS into the time vortex, he took Alyssa’s hand and led her off into the depths of the ship. He was going to wait for the perfect moment to do this but River’s question and how she told him that he and his girl were meant to be together…made him realise that he didn’t want to wait any more. He was going to do it right now.

“What are we doing here?” Alyssa asked as the Doctor opened the door to the Japanese garden.

“You’ll see”, the Doctor replied. Each step he took towards the rotunda made his hearts beat faster, even his hands started to sweat. But he didn’t deviate from his course. He was going to do it and a little nervousness was _not_ going to stop him. Eventually they reached the rotunda, the pair sat down on the bench. The Doctor took Alyssa’s hands. “When we first met, I was broken…distraught by the loss of Rose. And then you did something remarkable, you put me back together. I may have the title of the Doctor but you’re the true healer. You healed me” the Doctor swallowed and continued “I took you on as a companion and showed you the wonders of the universe. Then I fell in love with you. Though it took me a while and a lot of prodding from Martha to realise it” that earned him a smile from Alyssa “But now I have, this is the happiest I have ever been in all my lives. I love you, my brilliant Ali. More than words could possibly express which is why…” the Doctor moved off the bench, pulling a box out of his pocket as he got down on one knee. Alyssa was pretty sure her heart stopped when he did that. She let out a gasp when the Doctor opened the box to reveal a beautiful ring inside “Alyssa Palmer would you do this mad man the honour of being his wife?”

What happened next was something the Doctor wasn’t expecting. Alyssa jumped off the bench, tackling him to the floor, pressing her lips against his. She kissed him long and hard. “I take it that was a yes?” the Doctor asked as if he needed any more confirmation than that kiss.

“Yes spaceman. A thousand times yes”, Alyssa replied. The Doctor gave her the biggest smile ever before he pulled her down, connecting their mouths once more. The kiss lasted for a full 5 minutes and when the parted, both their faces where flushed. Neither of them cared though, they were just too happy! The Doctor took Alyssa’s hand, sliding the ring onto her finger.

“You have no idea how happy this makes me”, the Doctor said.

“Actually I do. Empath remember?” Alyssa reminded him.

The Doctor laughed “Right. Forgot about that”, he admitted. He stood up, pulling her with him. “Now I believe I was promised an _adventure_ , isn’t that right fiancée?” the Doctor asked. Alyssa smiled, feeling rather giddy at the fact that he’d just called her his fiancée.

“Yes, you were. _Fiancée_ ”, she replied. The Doctor kissed her quickly, scooping her up into his arms. He then hurried out of the Japanese Garden, eager to get to their bedroom.

\------------

The Doctor set Alyssa down in the middle of the room, went to the door and closed it. He strode back over to Alyssa and captured her lips with his own, pulling her flush against him. As they kissed, one of his hands wound its way into her lovely red locks while the other settled in the small of her back. Alyssa’s hands placed themselves on back of the Doctor’s jacket, fisting the material as the kiss grew more heated.

Soon clothing they were removing each other’s clothing giving quick kisses in between. First was the footwear and the Doctor socks…since Alyssa was wearing wedge sandals. Then the Doctor’s jacket, shirt and tie was dumped on the floor leaving his top half exposed. Alyssa pressed a kiss to his bare chest. The Doctor reached down, grasped hold of her dress and slowly pulled it up making sure that his hands skimmed over her body as he did so. The garment was dropped onto the floor leaving Alyssa in the green two-piece she’d planned to wear for their day at the beach.

The Doctor’s eyes travelled the length of her body, taking it all in. Alyssa didn’t feel uncomfortable under his gaze. He wasn’t looking her over in a lustful sort of way….it was more like he was appreciating what he was seeing. She stepped forward, unbuckled his trousers and pulled them off. When she stood back up, the Doctor gave her a kiss, reaching around and tugging at the ties which secured her bikini top. The item of clothing slid off giving the Doctor a display of his fiancée’s wonderful chest. “Beautiful”, he murmured cupping them. Alyssa’s eyes fluttered shut, as he caressed them. She let out a small moan when his thumbs swept over her nipples, hardening them instantly.

The Doctor smirked to himself, very, very pleased that he was the only one who could make her react like that. His hands left her breasts, sliding down her curves till they reached her hips. Alyssa’s eyes opened as he hooked a finger around both sides of her bikini bottoms. His brown eyes never left hers as he slid them off, leaving the red head fully exposed. The Time Lord could feel himself get hard as he looked at Alyssa’s naked body. “Your turn”, Alyssa said sliding her fingers into the waist band of his boxers. In no time at all she had them off. The moment she stood back up, the Doctor’s arms went around her, pressing his body bare body against her own.

Every fibre in the Time Lord’s body was telling him to take her now but he resisted. He wanted to savour this moment. Yes, they’ve had sex before and yes it was amazing…but this time…this time he wanted to make it a little more special as it was the first time as an engaged couple.

Alyssa closed her eyes letting the Doctor’s emotions wash over her, ignoring her own desire to drag him to the bed and make love to him. It wasn’t easy to ignore that given the fact that their bodies were right against each other and she could feel his erection. Yet she persevered, pushing through her desire, focusing solely on the Doctor’s emotions. 

She could feel his love for her….his want…his desire… “I wish you could feel what I feel right feeling right now”, she whispered.

“Try to project it to me”, the Doctor said bending his head down, resting his forehead against hers. He wanted to know how she felt at this moment…he wanted to know how she felt about him. Alyssa closed her eyes and opened her mind, trying to project what she was sensing from him. The Doctor closed his eyes too. It was a about a few moments of nothing and then…he felt it. A literal barrage of emotions. Happiness…love…desire… it washed over him, igniting his own feelings even more. The Doctor broke the connection, crashing his lips against Alyssa’s in a passionate kiss. Without breaking it, he swiftly picked her up and took her over the bed. He laid her down on it. “I love you, my brilliant Ali”, he breathed.

“I love you too, my clever spaceman”, Alyssa countered. The Doctor slid himself inside of her, eliciting a moan from the red head. They locked lips again and proceeded to make love. The newly engaged couple explored each other’s bodies as Alyssa’s hips rocked to match the Doctor’s thrusts. They were slow, the Time Lord wanting to take his time and enjoy every movement. While Alyssa was enjoying it too, she wanted to pick up the pace a little. “Doctor”, she panted “faster”.

“Alright love”, the Doctor said also starting to breath heavily too. He thrusted faster. Alyssa cried out his name when he hit her sweet spot. And then of course the Time Lord had lost all control, doing the same thing again and again just so he could hear her say his name like that.

Alyssa could feel the tightening in her stomach and she knew that she was close. “Doctor I’m…”

“Me too love”, the Doctor said.

And then Alyssa came. She screamed, her back arching slightly at the intensity of her orgasm. The Doctor soon followed after, as hers had triggered his own. The Time Lord collapsed on top of her, his hearts hammering away. “I love you”, he managed to say in between pants.

“I love you too”, Alyssa said also breathing very heavily. Her heart beating away as if she’d run a marathon.  The Doctor stayed where he was for few moments longer before pulled out, rolling onto his back. Alyssa immediately moved over as well, laying her head on his chest. It wasn't long before they'd both fallen asleep.


	35. The engagement part 1

Donna looked up from the magazine she’d been reading while eating her breakfast when she heard the Doctor and Alyssa’s voices approach the kitchen. “Doctor stop it”, Alyssa giggled.

“Mmm I don’t think so”, the Doctor said.

Donna watched Alyssa enter the kitchen, closely followed by the Doctor. “About time you two lovebirds were up”, she remarked, noting how Alyssa was only wearing the Doctor’s shirt while the Time Lord was just in a pair of pyjama bottoms.

“Sorry Donna, we got a tiny bit distracted”, Alyssa confessed as the Doctor hugged her from behind “We’ve actually got some news, haven’t we dear?” she said leaning back against the Time Lord.

“Yes we do love”, the Doctor agreed.

Donna took in the way they were standing, the Doctor hugging Alyssa from behind, his hands on her stomach…”oh my god, you’re pregnant!” she exclaimed.

“What? No, I’m not pregnant”, Alyssa said quickly “the Doctor proposed last night” she stepped out of the Doctor’s arms and held out the hand where on her ring finger was her engagement ring “we’re engaged”.

“Oh my god!” Donna repeated again, a bit more shrilly than the first time “Ali that’s wonderful!” She hugged the red head tightly “I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks”, Alyssa said. Donna stepped back and hugged the Doctor as well.

“Congrats spaceman”, she said.

“Thanks Donna”, he said.

“This is a cause for celebration”, Donna declared “do you have any alcohol?” she asked the Doctor. He shook his head.

“No, I don’t drink any”

“Neither do I”, Alyssa added “how about a celebratory cup of tea?” she suggested “maybe we could celebrate properly later”.

“Sounds good to me”, the Doctor agreed.

“Yeah, me too”, Donna said. It wasn’t long before the trio were sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of tea each. “So how did he propose?” Donna asked Alyssa “was it traditional? Or some weird alien way?”

“It was traditional”, Alyssa replied before the Doctor could protest over what Donna had said “very romantic, I loved it” she glanced at the Doctor “and I love you”.

“I love you too” Donna smiled over her cup as the engaged couple kissed.

“Donna, I was wondering if you’d be my bridesmaid”, Alyssa said to the ginger when she and the Doctor parted.

“I’d love to”, Donna said happily.

“Great. Now, all we’ve got to do is tell my mum, Martha, Steve, Jenny…oh and Jack too”, Alyssa said.

“Do we have to tell Jack?” the Doctor asked in an almost whine “you know what he’ll be like. Innuendos galore”.

“I’m sure he won’t be like that”, Alyssa said earning her a look from the Doctor.

“Ali, he teased me about our relationship”, the Doctor told her “he’ll do the same with our engagement”.

“If he does, I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to handle it”, Alyssa said “And if he gets a little too out of line…we can always tell him about our ‘adventures’”, she added with smirk.

The Doctor grinned “I like that idea”, he said. He could imagine the 51st century man getting rather flustered when the when they tell him about their many adventures in the bedroom.

\---------------

The first stop the trio made was at Alyssa’s home. “So does your mum know about the Doctor being an alien and that you’re travelling through time and space in a police box?” Donna asked as they made their way up the path.

“Yep”, Alyssa replied.

“And she was ok with it?”

“Oh yes…once she got over the shock of it”, Alyssa answered “though I wouldn’t mention anything like us almost being sacrificed in Pompeii. That’s the kind of thing that would have my mum asking me to stop travelling with the Doctor”.

“Don’t worry, I won’t”, Donna promised. Alyssa unlocked the front door, pushed it open to reveal the last person she’d expected to see, in her house at least. Her father Mathew Palmer.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Alyssa demanded entering her home, followed by the Doctor and Donna.

“Hello to you too”, Mathew said not too bothered by his daughter’s demand “my goodness you’ve grown”.

“Well, I was four the last time you saw me”, Alyssa shot back “And you didn’t answer my question, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Your mother invited me over”, Mathew replied.

“Liar”, Alyssa said bluntly “mum would _never_ invite you over, not in a million years” she pushed past her dad to go further into the house “Mum! Mum! You here?”

The red haired woman exited the kitchen. “Oh, you’re still here”, she said eyeing her ex-husband “thought you left”.

“I was then our daughter turned up”, Mathew said.

“Well your daughter would like you to leave, right now”, Alyssa said to him.

“Alright, I’ll go. But I wonder, could we get together some time? We can catch up on what I’ve missed”

“No”, Alyssa said “that’s never ever going to happen dad. Now get the hell out of our house”. Thankfully Mathew left without any arguments. Alyssa then turned to her mother “what was dad doing here?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter honey”, Sarah said “Now, what brings you back home?” she asked leading the trio into the living room.

“Well, the Doctor and I have got something to tell you”, Alyssa answered “But first I’d like to introduce you to Donna Noble, a friend and travelling companion of ours. Donna this is my mum, Sarah Palmer”.

“It’s lovely to meet you Mrs Palmer”, Donna said holding out her hand.

“You can call me Sarah if you like, you’re Ali’s friend after all”, Sarah said shaking the ginger’s hand. She then indicated for the trio to sit, which they did. “How are you liking the travelling Donna?”

“I’m loving it”, Donna replied.

“I’m glad to hear it”, Sarah said “Now I believe you and the Doctor had something to tell me?” she asked glancing at her daughter.

“Yes, we do”, Alyssa replied “we’re engaged mum”.

“Really?” Sarah asked and Alyssa nodded, showing her the ring “that’s amazing honey!” The two red heads got up and hugged. “When did this happen?” Sarah questioned as she gave the Doctor a hug as well.

“I proposed to her last night”, the Doctor answered.

“I’m going to take you all out to dinner tonight, to celebrate”, Sarah said moving back from the Doctor”.

“Dinner sounds great mum”, Alyssa said “we’ve got a few more people to see but we’ll try to get back for about 7ish”.

“We’ll get back for then so long as Ali is piloting”, Donna spoke up “she’s a much better pilot”.

“I’m not that good Donna”, Alyssa said “I still get a lot of help from Sexy”, she admitted. The woman said her farewells to her mother, Doctor and Donna doing the same before they headed back to the TARDIS.


	36. The engagement part 2

With some nifty piloting on Alyssa’s part, with quite a bit of help from the TARDIS and of course the Doctor pitching in too, they were able to pick up the others from their various locations. “Ok Doctor, we’re all here so what’s the big news?” Steve asked.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that there’s either a mini Doc or mini Ali on the way”, Jack spoke up.

“No, I’m _not_ pregnant”, Alyssa said. To the Doctor she added “why do people think I am?”

“Well, I figured you two must’ve _danced_ a fair few times”, Jack said with a suggestive look “So is he a good dance partner?” he asked “you can be honest, you’re among friends”.

“What my parents do behind closed doors is none of your business”, Jenny said sternly to Jack.

“Thank you Jenny”, Alyssa said “Now we do have some news and it has nothing to do with a baby. The Doctor and I are engaged”. The reactions that followed were a mix of applause, cheers and even a ‘bloody hell’ from Jack.

“Language, there’s a child present”, the Doctor said sternly earning laughs from everyone else.

“I’m so happy for you and dad”, Jenny said giving Alyssa a hug.

“Thank you, honey”, Alyssa said “and I would love it if you’ll be my maid of honour”.

Jenny broke out in a big grin and hugged her mother again, tightly this time “I would love to! Thank you so much mum!” she said happily.

“Your welcome”, Alyssa said moving back. She touched the blonde’s face fondly “there’s no one I’d rather be as my maid of honour”. Alyssa then received a congratulations from Martha. While she was speaking to the black woman, Jack gave his congratulations to the Doctor.

“Would you mind being my best man Jack?” the Time Lord asked.

“Of course I would!” Jack clapped him on the shoulder “I’m really gonna enjoy throwing your bachelor party”. The Doctor watched him go over to Alyssa to congratulate her, his shoulders slumped.

“Great”, the Time Lord grumbled. He could only imagine what Jack’s idea of a bachelor party would be like and for some reason it made him a little uneasy.

“Don’t worry Doctor, I’ll help him organise it”, Steve assured him, having seen the expression on the Doctor’s face.

“Thanks Steve”, the Doctor said.

“I am happy for you two. Didn’t take you very long to ask her did it? And to think it wouldn’t have been possible if Martha and I hadn’t ‘helped’ get the pair of you together”, Steve remarked.

“I know. And I appreciate it Steve, really”, the Doctor said looking lovingly over at his fiancé who was still chatting away to Jack.

“You think that you guys will have children in the near future?” Steve asked “I know you’ve got Jenny…but I mean children that are biologically both yours and Ali’s”.

“I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it Steve”, the Doctor replied.

“Do you want to though?” Steve questioned.

“Yes, I’d love to start a family with her”, the Doctor admitted “I’d like nothing more”.

“It’ll happen, one day”, Steve said patting him on the shoulder.

“Yeah, one day”, the Doctor agreed. And he honestly couldn’t wait for the day when Alyssa would tell him that she was excepting their child.

\-----------------

Later…

The Doctor stuck his head around the door of his and Alyssa’s bedroom. “You nearly ready yet?” he asked Alyssa.

“Not quite. This stupid zip has gotten stuck”, Alyssa replied turning to the Doctor “Would you mind giving me a hand?”

“Not at all”, the Doctor replied stepping into the room. He carefully grasped the zip and pulled it up.

“Thanks. Now, what do you think?” Alyssa asked turning around so the Doctor could see her whole outfit. It was a simple dark green a line cocktail dress with ¾ length lace sleeves.

“Beautiful as always”, the Doctor replied “in fact I’m tempted to skip dinner…” he stepped forward, placing his hands on her hips “and go straight for an adventure”, he murmured in her ear, making her shiver.  

“We can’t skip Doctor”, Alyssa said “mum’s taking us out to dinner to celebrate our engagement”.

“What if I’ve decided I wanna celebrate a different way?” the Doctor asked kissing her neck. Alyssa closed her eyes at the sensation of the words against her skin. It was so easy to agree but then she remembered that fact that it had been a few weeks since she’d seen her mother, the last time being when they brought Jenny to meet Sarah.

With a little effort, she managed to move out of his grasp. “As tempting as it may be, we have to go to the dinner”, she said and the Doctor pouted “but afterwards we can celebrate with an adventure, that’s a promise”.

The Doctor immediately brightened at that prospect. He cupped her face and kissed her but only very briefly. If he kissed her for a fraction of a second longer, he would’ve made love to her then and there. The Doctor took Alyssa’s hand and together they left the bedroom.

\--------------

The dinner was thoroughly enjoyable, though Sarah did remark it was a shame that Jenny couldn’t join them. The young blonde had to go back to Messaline, there was still a lot of work to be done between the relations of the Hath and the humans. Alyssa promised her mother that when Jenny was available, that they would have another dinner together, all four of them as a family. Well…technically they were family now that the Doctor and Alyssa were engaged.

As soon as the TARDIS was in the time vortex, Donna went straight to bed. The Doctor and Alyssa went to their bedroom too but not to sleep. They had something else in mind. It wasn’t long before breathy moans filled the air as their bodies moved together. “I’m close”, Alyssa moaned feeling the coil in her stomach tighten.

“Me too love”, the Doctor agreed. A few thrusts later had Alyssa throwing her head back as she came, the Doctor following suit not long after. The red head laid down on the Time Lord’s body, closing her eyes. She hummed in content as the Doctor ran his hand up and down her spine. “I love you Ali, so much”, he murmured.

Alyssa lifted her head up to meet his eyes “I love you too”, she said and gave him a tender kiss “I can’t wait to be Mrs Doctor”.


	37. Shan Shen

After the rather unpleasant trip to Midnight, at least for the Doctor as he was the one who’d been stuck in the transport with the mysterious entity that had almost cost him his life, the trio had stopped off at Shan Shen. A rather lively planet with a huge market, full of all manner of goods.

“I don’t know about this”, Alyssa said eyeing the tumbler warily in her hand.

“Yeah, I think I’d have a water”, Donna said just as wary as the red head.

“Don’t worry, you’re both gonna love it”, the Doctor assured them “on three. One…two…three!”

The trio took a big drink from their tumblers. The Doctor snorted as he did so earning a laugh from the two women. “This is actually pretty good”, Alyssa remarked taking another drink.

“Told you”, the Doctor said smugly, also taking another sip of his own drink. Alyssa giggled when he moved the tumbler away to show that he had a foamy moustache. “What?” he asked as Donna started to laugh as well.

“You’ve got a little...um…foam” Alyssa gestured to her lip.

The Doctor touched his lip “oh, so I have”, he said. He leant forward and kissed Alyssa leaving a trace of foam on her lips “and now, so do you”.

“Doctor!” Alyssa exclaimed wiping the foam away, lightly smacking him on the arm. Donna smiled at their little interaction. They really were the perfect couple. The trio finished off their drinks and continued exploring the marketplace.

While the Time Lord was busy haggling with a stall holder, Donna noticed a stall with various pieces of jewellery on it. “Ali have a look at these”, she said.

“They’re lovely”, Alyssa remarked carefully picking through the jewellery.

“What do you think of this one?” Donna asked holding up a simple lapis lazuli pendant.

“It’s nice”, Alyssa replied.

“Why don’t you try it on?” Donna suggested.

“Uh, sure”, Alyssa said. She took the pendant from Donna, unclasped it and secured it around her neck.

“It suits you mam”, the young brunette stall holder commented.

“Thanks”, Alyssa said.

“You should get it, you know for your wedding”, Donna suggested.

“Why?” Alyssa asked taking it off.

“Well, you know the saying, right? Something old, something new…”

“Something borrowed, something blue”, Alyssa finished.

“That’s ‘something blue”, Donna said nodding to it. Alyssa took a closer look, noting the rich blue of the stone.

“That’s very true”, Alyssa agreed. She looked at the stall holder “how much?”

“Its for your wedding…so nothing”, the young woman said.

“Oh, I can’t take it for free”, Alyssa said “there must be some sort of price on it”.

“There is but for you, its free”, the stall holder said “consider it my wedding present to you”.

“Well…”

“She’ll take it”, Donna quickly cut in “thank you”. She then steered Alyssa away from the stall before the red head could protest. The stall holder watched them leave, her smile fading.

“Be careful…you brilliant girl”, she whispered.

\----------------------------

They stopped at another stall, this one full of brightly coloured scarves. Alyssa watched as Donna enthusiastically rifled through them. Then someone caught her eye. Someone she didn’t expect to see. “I don’t believe it”, she breathed. It was that man from the convention, the one who’d attempted to get her to try out ‘the new gaming experience’. She marched off towards him leaving Donna behind at the stall. She a few questions and several choice words for him.

The man stopped, his eyes widening when he spotted the angry red head coming towards him. He turned and took off. Alyssa chased after him. She was NOT going to let him get away!

She darted around the various stalls, all the while keeping the man in her sights. Then she got a window of opportunity. He was close to a stack of baskets. Alyssa took a breath, raised as hand, focusing on the baskets. They swayed before they toppled over, landing on the man, effectively trapping him. Alyssa ran over and pulled the man out of the baskets. “Now, you and I are going to have a little chat”, she said, dragged him away from the stalls and out of sight.

“Look miss, I meant you no harm…” the man started.

“Meant me no harm?” Alyssa repeated “you put me through that twisted head game!”

“I-I know but I didn’t want to. She told me I _had_ to do it”, the man stuttered.

“She? Who’s she?” Alyssa questioned.

“Madam Kovarian”, the man answered.

“And why did Madam Kovarian want to put me through that ordeal?” Alyssa asked.

“I don’t know. I was just a simple stall holder at that convention. I _was_ selling a new gaming experience and then she approached me about two weeks before you showed up”, the man explained “she told me I had to keep an eye out for well…you and to get your attention anyway I could. I didn’t want to do it miss but she…put me through that machine too!”

“Its ok”, Alyssa said, her voice gentle. She could sense he was telling the truth and she felt his genuine fear while he explained. “What’s your name?”

“Mark”, the man replied.

“I’d like to have a few words with Madam Kovarian, Mark. Is there any way to do that?” Alyssa asked.

“There is a way”, Mark answered “follow me”. Alyssa followed him to a small looking building several feet away. He opened the door to reveal a set of steps. “Just go down those steps and you’ll find a computer. Its how I talk to her”, Mark explained. Alyssa peered down the dark steps.

“And how do I…” she trailed off when she looked up and saw that Mark was gone.

“Fan-bloody-tastic”, she grumbled. Alyssa turned her attention back to the steps. She knew it wasn’t clever of her to go down them alone but it would take too long to go and get the Doctor and Donna. It wouldn’t hurt to have a quick peek, see if she couldn’t get any answers before she involved her fiancé and ginger haired friend. Alyssa walked down the stairs, keeping her ears strained for any noises as it was very hard to see anything.

At the bottom of the stairs was a room. Alyssa brushed her hands over the walls near the steps trying to find a light switch. When her fingers came into contact with a switch, she flicked it on. She could now see that the room was of medium size. There was a futuristic looking computer in the centre. “Right, how to turn you on”, Alyssa said going over to it. She quickly looked it over and pressed a button that she assumed was the ‘on’ button.

Nothing.

Alyssa carefully tried few different buttons and still nothing. She sighed. _Mark must’ve lied_ she thought _to trick me to come down here…._ With that worrying thought. She turned and quickly headed for the stairs.

She paused in the doorway when she heard a woman say her name. She turned around to see a woman with an eye patch on the monitor. “Madam Kovarian I presume” Alyssa said.

“You know my name?” Madam Kovarian asked looking surprised.

“The little weasel who tricked me at the convention told me. I’ve got a lot of questions for you”, Alyssa said walking forward.

“I assumed you would. Ask away”, Madam Kovarian said.

“How did you give me extra psychic powers?” Alyssa questioned.

“I didn’t. Those powers were in you the whole time, I just helped you tap into them”, Madam Kovarian explained.

“By putting me through that twisted head game”, Alyssa spat.

“Precisely”, Madam Kovarian said looking rather smug.

“Why did you do it?” Alyssa asked.

“It was necessary”, Madam Kovarian replied.

“Necessary. Well that’s not vague at all”, Alyssa said sarcastically “well riddle me this: what could you possibly gain from helping me tap into my powers?”

Madam Kovarian smiled which unnerved Alyssa slightly “I have a lot to gain”, she said.

“What does that mean?” Alyssa demanded.

“You’ll find out in the future”, Madam Kovarian replied.

Alyssa rolled her eyes “Great. Another vague answer”, she grumbled.

“That’s all I can say. Now I’m afraid Alyssa that this conversation is now over” Alyssa gasped when two figures stepped out of the shadows.

“What are they?” she asked eyeing the figures. They were tall with bulbous heads and grey mouthless faces. Their eyes were black sitting in two deep recesses in their faces.

“The question you should be considering is: fight or flight?” Madam Kovarian asked as Alyssa backed away from the advancing aliens.

“Um…uh…” she stammered seeing electricity spark between the two alien’s fingers “flight!” Alyssa shouted. She threw psychic energy at them, tossing them backwards. When there was significant distance between her and the aliens, she turned and ran. Alyssa dashed up the steps taking two at a time. When she got to the top, she slammed the door shut and leant against it breathing heavily.

Alyssa pushed herself away from the door and rubbed her head. She had a slight headache which usually occurred when she used her powers. That was a little strange as she couldn’t recall having used them in the last few minutes. In fact she didn’t even know what she was doing there. She rubbed her head again and headed back to the marketplace to go find Donna and the Doctor.

\--------------------

Alyssa passed by a tent with its flap partly open. But she quickly backtracked when she realised that Donna was inside with what appeared to be a large beetle stuck to her back. Alyssa ducked inside and a robed woman got up from the table. The woman tried to come at the red head but she threw her back with her abilities. Alyssa then reached out and grasped the beetle planning to prise it from Donna’s back. The woman suddenly gasped and her eyes went blank.

\------------------

~Ealing Road~

Alyssa looked around confused. She was no longer in the tent. She was now standing on the pavement of a street that looked remarkably like a typical one from Earth. How in the hell did touching that beetle get her here? The woman didn’t have much time to dwell on it as Donna suddenly came running up with all these cables taped to her coat.

“Donna!” Alyssa shouted hurrying toward her.

“Ali? How are you here?” Donna asked both confused and relieved to see her.

“That beetle thing on your back. I tried to get it off…and I ended up here”, Alyssa replied “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“I wish I had time to explain Ali but I don’t. I’ve only got a couple of minutes to stop myself from turning down this road”, Donna said “long story short. I go down this road, I’ll _never_ to HC Clements and I’ll never meet you and the Doctor”.

“Ok, so we’ll stop you from turning down this road then”, Alyssa said “how to do it…” she murmured looking up at down the road. Suddenly a shot rang out. Alyssa gaped, clutching her side.

“Ali!” Donna cried as the red head collapsed “It’s not bad. You’re going to be fine”, she assured her as she watched the blood pool out from under Alyssa’s hand.

“Oh, you shouldn’t lie to her Donna. What would the Doctor think of you for doing that?” a female voice spoke up. Alyssa looked up to see Rose Tyler standing there holding a gun.

“Why did you do that?” Donna asked standing up “she’s done nothing to you”.

“Of course she has. She’s gotten herself in a relationship with the Doctor”, Rose glared at Alyssa “he’s mine Alyssa Palmer. He loves me and only me”. Before Alyssa could say anything, the blonde roughly shoved Donna out into the road.

“Donna!” Alyssa screamed unable to move, to help her friend because of her wound

“And now for you”, Rose said turning back to Alyssa, raising the gun “Just one question… are you afraid of the big bad wolf?”

“I’m not afraid of you Rose Tyler”, Alyssa stated, doing her best to keep her voice level despite the pain.

“I’ll have to do something about that won’t I? Be seeing you Ali”

Alyssa closed her eyes.

BANG!

\-----------------------

Alyssa gasped, sitting up. She didn’t get much of a chance get herself together when she was attacked by Donna with a large hug. “Thank god”, she breathed “I was getting really worried about you. I can’t believe she’d do that”.

“Everything all right?” the Doctor asked coming into the tent. He then frowned seeing both women on the floor hugging each other. “What’s wrong?”

“Some woman killed Ali”, Donna replied.

“What”, the Doctor said suddenly looking angry.

“It was in this parallel world…I think”, Donna continued.

“Who did it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Some woman” Donna frowned trying to remember the details but they were slipping away like it was just a dream.

“Rose”, Alyssa spoke up “it was Rose Tyler” she looked up at the Doctor “she asked me a question. Before…she…killed me”.

“What was it?” the Doctor asked.

“Are you afraid of the big bad wolf”, Alyssa recited. The Doctor froze. Bad Wolf. That was two words he hoped never to hear again. “We’ve got to go. Now”, he declared. He then helped Alyssa and Donna to their feet and pulled them out of the tent.

“Oh my god”, Alyssa breathed, green eyes wide. It was everywhere.

Bad Wolf.

Banners…

Posters…

The Doctor hurried over to the TARDIS and stopped dead, seeing those words on the blue box wherever there was supposed to be writing. Terrified, the Time Lord entered the TARDIS.

The console room was bathed in a red light and the cloister bell was ringing. “This is not good”, Alyssa stated.

“Doctor, what is it? What's Bad Wolf?” Donna asked.

“It's the end of the universe”


	38. Stolen Earth

The TARDIS landed on the grass verge of a suburban street. The Doctor burst out of the blue box, quickly followed by Donna and Alyssa. “It's fine…everything's fine”, the Time Lord breathed thoroughly relieved “Nothing's wrong, all fine!”

Alyssa suddenly spotted Steve close by to one of the houses. She hurried over to him. “Good timing Ali, I was about to leave”, he said.

“Uh…ok. What are you doing here?” Alyssa asked.

“Some lady named River told me to come here to this exact spot and wait for you”, Steve answered.

“Did River say why?” Alyssa asked.

Steve shook his head “I asked but all she said was ‘spoilers’”, he told her.

“Right”, Alyssa said slowly wondering how River spoke to him as she died. Then she remembered the woman had told them herself she never met them in the right order. “So…have you seen anything weird recently? Anything out of place?” she asked.

“No, I haven’t”, Steve replied “why? What’s going on?”

“Ali!” the Doctor called “we’re going”.

“It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in on the TARDIS”, Alyssa answered. The pair headed to the TARDIS when all of a sudden the entire place started to shake, violently.

“What’s happening?” Steve asked looking around, seeing tiles fall off the roofs of the houses.

“I don’t know”, Alyssa answered “we better get into the TARDIS. They started forward, only making it a couple of steps when the ground shook even more, knocking them off their feet. Alyssa and Steve held onto each other as the shaking continued.

Then it stopped. “Was that an earthquake?” Steve asked.

“We don’t usually get earthquakes here in England”, Alyssa told him as they got to their feet. That was when she saw that the TARDIS was gone. “No”, she breathed hurrying over to where the blue box had once sat. “No, no, no!” she repeated waving her arms through the empty space hoping that she was just cloaked or something. But her hands didn’t strike anything solid “She’s gone”, Alyssa stated “Steve the TARDIS is gone!”

“Uh Ali? I think we’ve got an even bigger problem”, Steve said looking up at the sky. Alyssa followed his gaze upwards and gasped.

“Oh…my…god”

Instead of being blue sky and clouds, it was pitch black. However, this was not what Alyssa was gaping at. No, she was gaping at the number of planets in the sky!

“Ali, I’d say that definitely is described as weird”, Steve remarked.

“Uh huh”, Alyssa agreed “come on, we’ve got to find some place safe”.

“But where is safe?” Steve asked as they walked “there’s planets in the sky. Who knows what’s going to come next”.

“Knowing my luck, its gonna be the Doctor’s former companion, Rose Tyler”, Alyssa said “she wants to kill me”.

“What?!” Steve exclaimed “Why?”

“Because she was in love with the Doctor. And she believes that he belongs to her and her alone”, Alyssa replied.

“So basically she wants to kill you because she’s jealous”, Steve stated.

“Pretty much”, Alyssa agreed.

“Well she’s gonna have to get over herself. The Doctor has moved on to in my opinion, a gorgeous and brilliant woman”, Steve said “Also if she wants to kill you, she’s going to have to go through me first”.

“While I appreciate that Steve, it won’t be necessary. I’ve got my abilities and if push comes to shove, I’ll use them on her”, Alyssa said “I just hope it doesn’t come to that”.

Back on the road that the pair had just vacated, the blonde woman herself appeared carrying a rather large gun. She glanced up at the sky without a hint of surprise “Right, now we're in trouble”, she cocks the gun “It's only just beginning”.

\--------------

“Oh, I’m such an idiot!” Alyssa suddenly exclaimed smacking her forehead “Jack! I can ring Jack. Maybe he’ll know what happening and hopefully he’ll know what to expect”. She shoved her hand into her pocket and her smile fell.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked.

“I don’t have my phone on me”, Alyssa answered “I must’ve left it in the TARDIS…oh stupid, Ali!” she chastised herself.

“Calm down. I’ve got a phone”, Steve pulled out his “and I’ve got a signal”, he added cheerfully “what’s his number?”

“I…don’t know it off by heart”, Alyssa admitted “it was stored in the contacts on my phone”.

“Is there someone else we can call?” Steve asked.

“There’s Martha. She works for UNIT. She’ll know what’s going on”, Alyssa said. Steve handed his phone over and the red head quickly dialled Martha’s number. “Come on. Come on”, she muttered as the phone just kept ringing. Alyssa groaned when she got voice mail. She left a message and hung up. She then gave the phone back.

“Better switch this off to save battery”, Steve said noting that he didn’t have that much “So now what do we do? Still try and find somewhere safe?”

“It’s the best plan of action”, Alyssa answered.

~TARDIS~

“But if the Earth has been moved, they’ve lost the sun!” Donna said starting to panic “What about my Mum? Granddad? What about Ali? They're dead, aren't they? Are they dead?”

“I don't know, Donna. I just don't know”, the Doctor said both his hearts twisting painfully at the possibility that his future wife was dead “I'm sorry, I don't know…”

“That's my family”, Donna breathed “My whole world”.

 _And mine_ the Doctor thought staring sadly at the screen “There's no readings”, he stated “Nothing. Not a trace. Not even a whisper. Oh, that is fearsome technology”.

“So what do we do?” Donne asked.

“We've got to get help”, the Doctor said, suddenly determined all sad thoughts gone. He couldn’t just give up on Alyssa like that. _She_ would never give up on him. Never. There was one place he was sure to find answers about what happened to the Earth. And as soon as he had those answers…he was going to find that missing planet and his fiancé.

“From where?” Donna questioned.

“Donna…I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation. Hold tight!”

\----------------------

Alyssa’s hand tightened around Steve’s as they walked through the now chaotic streets. Everywhere they looked there were people running about either screaming in fear or yelling drunkenly. “Hey sexy!” a man hollered as the pair passed by “how about you come party with me heh?”

“Just ignore him”, Steve murmured to her and Alyssa nodded “How are you doing with…you know?” he asked knowing that all this chaos was not going to be kind on the red head due to her empath abilities.

“As well as can be”, Alyssa replied though she cringed when a screaming woman ran past them, feeling the woman’s fear “I’d feel a lot better when we get to your place”. It had turned out that where the TARDIS had landed was about 20 minutes away from Steve’s house, a blessing for the pair as they didn’t want to spend ages wandering the streets looking for somewhere safe they could stay.

“We’re not far now, just a couple of streets”, Steve assured her. They passed by a small TV shop with its front window smashed. However, just by chance there was a lone TV sitting in the corner of the shop front. It was displaying a line of planets…27 of them. Steve and Alyssa stopped and watched the screen which changed to show an image of the Earth from outer space with several red blobs approaching, fast.

“We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships” Alyssa and Steve exchanged looks “The Pentagon has issued an emergency report saying that two hundred objects are now heading towards Earth in a regular pattern. Organised flightplan”, the news reader stated.

“That’s one hell of an army heading straight for us”, Steve remarked “any ideas who they could be?”

Alyssa shook her head “No clue. Could be any number of aliens”, she said.

“…And stay indoors”

“We better get to your house before it starts raining missiles”, Alyssa said.

“Agreed”, Steve said. They turned away from the TV shop and hurried down the road, even more determined to get to their destination.

\-------------------

Steve quickly unlocked the door of his house and entered, closely followed by Alyssa. The man the shut and locked the door just to be on the safe side. “I’m gonna grab the charger for my phone. See if the news says anything else about those spaceships”, Steve told her. Alyssa nodded and headed for the living room. 

She picked up the TV remote and turned the TV, going straight for a news channel. “…the alien spaceships have just sent out a message…”

“Exterminate!”

“No”, Alyssa breathed staring at the TV in horror, the remote falling out of her hand.

“Exterminate! Exterminate!”

Steve rushed into the room. “There’s a spaceship in the sky!” he exclaimed pointing to the window. Alyssa didn’t answer him. She just kept staring at the screen as the Dalek’s message was repeated over and over. She couldn’t believe it. The invading aliens were Daleks, the Doctor’s worst enemy. “Ali? Did you hear me?” Steve asked walking over to her. He touched her shoulder and she looked at him, tears in her eyes.

“It’s the end”, she breathed before she flung her arms around him. Steve hugged her tightly as she started to cry. The man looked over her shoulder at the TV where the shouts of ‘Exterminate’ could still be heard.

 _We need you Doctor_ Steve thought _we need you now._

\------------------------

Sarah worriedly peeked out of her window, glancing up at the giant spaceship in the sky. “I hope you are safe honey”, she whispered praying that her daughter was safely in the TARDIS, away from all of this.

\---------------------

Alyssa and Steve both jumped when they heard an explosion from outside. They hurried over to the window and peered out. The spaceship was firing down at the streets! “Should we stay here or make a run for it?” Steve asked Alyssa.

“If we make a run for it, that ship would probably shoot at us. Same goes for any Dalek’s that might be outside”, Alyssa said “But if we stay put, there’s a chance they might destroy the house”.

Steve opened his mouth to say something when someone ran past the home. Immediately the ship shot at the poor man, killing him. Unfortunately the blast also struck a parked car outside the house, blowing it up. The force of the explosion blew in the windows and threw Alyssa and Steve to the floor. “You ok?” Steve asked.

“I’ll be fine once my ears stop ringing”, Alyssa answered.

“I think we should try to make a run for it”, Steve stated getting up taking care not to put his hands on the broken glass. It wasn’t easy as the damn stuff was everywhere.

“You think it’s worth the risk?”  Alyssa asked standing up as well. Steve opened his mouth to answer when the red head suddenly yanked him down. ‘Dalek’ she mouthed pointing to the open window. The pair stayed low until Alyssa indicated that it was safe to stand up. They went over to the window and watched as the Dalek trundled up the street. “Still think its worth the risk?” she asked Steve.

“If you’re able to sense more than one Dalek, I’d say its worth it”, Steve answered.

“I can certainly try”, Alyssa said “but where should we try to go?”

“What about your house?” Steve suggested “that way we’ll know if your mum is safe”.

“Sounds good to me”, Alyssa said. Steve grabbed his phone from his room and they left his house.

\------------------------------

~street~

“Geez how many of these things are there?” Steve asked as he and Alyssa watched from the corner of a building a two Daleks passed by. They had to stop on a number of occasions due to coming across a number of Daleks, some of which were rounding up the humans.

“I have no idea”, Alyssa replied “we’re still about 10 minutes away from my house”. The pair stepped away from the building and continued on their way. They hadn’t gone far when Alyssa suddenly gasped “ow!” she exclaimed, tugging out the TARDIS key from under her shirt. It was glowing brightly.

**_“Can you hear me sweetie?”_ **

“Sexy”, Alyssa breathed relieved to hear her voice.

“Is the TARDIS talking to you?” Steve asked looking around warily not wanting to be caught be those Daleks.

“Yeah she is”, Alyssa replied. To the key she said “its so good to hear from you. Are you nearby?”

 ** _“Yes”_** the TARDIS answered.

Alyssa smiled “She’s nearby”, she told Steve.

“Brilliant”, he said happily “where abouts is she?”

Alyssa reiterated the question to the key and she got a list of directions. “sounds pretty easy to follow”, she remarked. To Steve, she added “come on” and then headed off in the direction the TARDIS told her to. What the pair didn’t know was that Rose had spotted them.

The blonde smirked to herself and followed.

\---------------

“It’s like a ghost town…” Donna remarked as she and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS. The area was littered with rubbish, abandoned cars, broken bicycles.

“Sarah Jane said they were taking the people”, the Doctor said “What for? Think, Donna. When you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say?”

“Just…the darkness is coming”, Donna replied.

“Anything else?” the Doctor asked.

Donna looked away, thinking and then she spotted something behind the Doctor. “I can’t remember but…” she smiled “you might want to look behind you”.

The Doctor turned around and a big grin appeared on his face. It was Alyssa! She was ok! Without a moments hesitation, he took off towards her.

Alyssa picked up the pace, overjoyed to see her fiancé. They were too happy to see each other that they didn’t see the Dalek appear until it was too late.

“Exterminate!” it cried.

“No!” Alyssa screamed as the beam from the Dalek’s weapon skims across the Doctor’s chest making him fall to the floor. Suddenly Jack appeared in a flash of light and blasted the Dalek with his large gun. Alyssa raced over to the Doctor, dropping to her knees.

“Ali…” he breathed staring at her.

“Yeah it’s me”, Alyssa said smiling sadly at him. She knew that shot was fatal and she _knew_ what it meant. The Doctor was going to regenerate. He was going to change into a new man.

“I was gonna marry you”, the Doctor told her “Me. Not someone…else”.

“I know”, Alyssa said quietly. She glanced up at Jack and Steve. “Help me get him up”, she said. Steve nodded, crouched down and helped her get the Time Lord to his feet. The pair supported the Doctor all the way to the TARDIS where Donna pushed open the door for them.

~TARDIS~

Donna watched worriedly as Alyssa and Steve carefully place the Doctor on the floor. Jack set his gun down on the captain’s seat as Rose slipped inside the TARDIS.

“What…what do we do?!” Donna exclaimed “There must be some medicine or something”.

“There isn’t”, Alyssa told her “he’s dying and there’s only one thing that he can do”. Rose’s jaw clenched as she watched the red head press a kiss to the Doctor’s cheek. “I love you”, she murmured. Alyssa got up, moved back and took hold of Steve’s hand.

“No”, Rose breathed “I came all this way…”

“What’s the only one thing he can do?” Donna asked confused. She had no idea what was going on.

“It's starting”, the Doctor said as his right hand began to glow.

“Here we go. Good luck, Doctor”, Jack said.

“Will someone please tell me what is going on?!” Donna demanded, almost hysterical.

“When he's dying, his-his body…it repairs itself. It changes”, Rose explained. Both Donna and Alyssa were taken aback by the fact that she was there. However, the Doctor’s imminent regeneration took priority at the moment. They could have words with her later. “But you can't!” the blonde cried desperately.

The Doctor struggled to his feet, panting. “It's too late”, he managed to say “I'm regenerating” with some effort he glanced at Alyssa “I love you”.

“I love you too”

Golden-orange energy burst from the Doctor’s skin through the sleeves and the neck of his suit. Alyssa turned her face away, into Steve’s shoulder to shield her eyes from the bright light. Jack put his arms around Donna and Rose, the two women also hid their faces from the regeneration energy.

**To be continued…**


	39. Journey's end

The Doctor stood in the console room, regeneration energy pouring out of him. He didn’t want to change! He wanted to marry Alyssa. Him! Not some other man. But regeneration couldn’t be stopped once it started there was no way to…

His eyes widened when he realised that he still had his spare hand. There was a chance that it wouldn’t work…but he had to try. With a lot of effort, he turned around and points both hands at his spare hand making it glow and bubble wildly. The regeneration energy faded away and the Time Lord leans against a support, gasping but looking very much the same.

He straightened up “Now then. Where were we?” the Doctor asked.

“You’re still you”, Alyssa stated staring at him in disbelief. She wasn’t the only one, Steve, Jack, Donna and Rose were too. “H-how is that possible?”

“I just used the regeneration to heal myself and then siphoned off the rest into my spare hand”, the Doctor explained nodding to the jar. He turned to Alyssa “I didn’t want to change Ali” he took her hands “I’m the one who fell in love with you…proposed to you. I want to be the one who says ‘I do’, not some other guy…” he looked away “I know that sounds stupid”

Alyssa tugged one of her hands free so she could turn his face back to her “Oh, Doctor. Its not stupid at all. In fact I think its rather sweet” she leant in and kissed him. Rose looked away, feeling anger and jealousy towards Alyssa. It should’ve been _her_ not some silly red head!

The Doctor pulled away and touched her face with a loving smile. He then turned his attention to Rose, the smile no longer present. “You’ve got some nerve showing up here after what you’ve done to Ali”, he said.

“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything to her”, Rose said feigning innocence “this is the first time I’ve met her”.

“No its not, you met her in the parallel world”, Donna spoke up.

“Where you shot me, twice”, Alyssa added.

“That’s a lie! The only person I met that is present right now is Donna”, Rose nodded to the ginger.

“Rose, do you know what an empath is?” Alyssa asked “Its someone who has the ability to feel what others feel. Its also a rather handy inbuilt lie detector too. So I _know_ you’re lying big time”.

“So what if I am lying?” Rose asked defensively “what are you going to do about it?”

The Doctor stepped forward, not quite Oncoming Storm but teetering on the edge. “I’d be very careful what you say Rose Tyler”, he warned “you are aware of what I can do”.

Rose swallowed, eyeing him uneasily. She didn’t understand. Why was he so upset? So she killed his precious fiancé in the parallel world. She wouldn’t have done it if Alyssa had stolen the Doctor away. “I-I was your companion. You wouldn’t hurt me”, Rose said attempting to sound confident but the tremor in her voice gave away the fact that she was a little afraid.

“Wouldn’t I? Just because you were once my companion doesn’t give you the right to kill my fiancé”, the Doctor said loudly.

“ _She_ took you away from me!” Rose argued “I cared about you…I loved you. I _still_ love you”.

“Rose…I once cared about you too. Then I lost you”, the Doctor said “it was hard for a while but I then met Ali” he glanced at the red head and smiled “she helped me to heal…to move on” the Doctor looked back at Rose “I moved on with my life, you should’ve done the same”.

“How could I move on? You were the best thing that ever happened to me”, Rose retorted. 

“If you really loved me Rose then you wouldn’t have killed her”, the Doctor shot back. Rose didn’t know what to say to that. Suddenly the power went out in the TARDIS.

“What’s happening?” Alyssa asked.

“They’ve got us”, the Doctor replied “some kind of chronon loop…” The TARDIS tilted violently causing all the passengers to stumble.

“There's a massive Dalek ship at the centre of the planets”, Jack said grabbing hold of the rail to keep himself stable “They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination”.

“You said these planets were like an engine”, Donna said to the Doctor as she held onto the console “But what for?”

The Time Lord turned to Rose after making sure that Alyssa was steady. “You've been in a parallel world. That world's running ahead of this universe. You've seen the future. What was it?” he demanded.

Rose hesitated for a moment before she answered “It's the darkness”.

“The stars were going out”, Donna added.

“One by one. We looked up at the sky and they were just dying”, Rose continued “Basically, we've been building this…” she looked away “this travel machine, this…” Rose’s voice dropped to a quieter tone “Dimension Cannon…so I could…come back”.

“A Dimension Cannon. _You_ built a Dimension Cannon”, the Doctor repeated, everything suddenly falling into place. It was just like when Yvonne had used her machine at Torchwood which allowed the Cybermen entrance from the Parallel world. Only this time it was a whole Dalek army, not from a parallel world but from the Time War itself.

Rose nodded “Suddenly, it started to work and the dimensions started to collapse. Not just in our world, not just in yours, but the whole of reality. Even the Void was dead. Something is destroying everything”, she explained.

 “You really are a stupid ape”, the Doctor spat “this is all your fault. The Daleks are here because your device weakened the walls of the universe enough for them to come through!”

“I didn’t know that was going to happen!” Rose cried “I swear, I just wanted to come back to you!”

“You should’ve just stayed in the parallel world where you belong”, the Doctor glared at her. Alyssa gingerly touched his arm feeling his anger reach his boiling point. He glanced at her “sorry love”, he said realising that she felt his emotions.

“It’s ok”, Alyssa said.

Donna glanced at Rose “In that parallel world, you said something about me”, she said.

“The Dimension Cannon…” Rose winced at the glare the Doctor threw at her “could measure timelines, and it's, it's weird, Donna, but they all seemed to converge on you”.

“But why me?” Donna asked confused “I mean, what have I ever done? I'm a temp from Chiswick”.

“Not just a temp. A _super_ temp”, Alyssa corrected. Donna smiled at that. It had been Alyssa who first called her a super temp at Adipose Industries. 

The scanner beeps getting everyone’s attention. “The Dalek Crucible”, the Doctor remarked “All aboard”.

“The TARDIS is secured”, they heard a Dalek say outside the doors.

“Doctor, you will step forth or die”

“We'll have to go out”, the Doctor told them all “Because if we don't, they'll get in”.

“You told me nothing could get through those doors”, Rose spoke up.

“You've got extrapolator shielding”, Jack reminded the Doctor.

“Last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids, and mad”, the Doctor said “But this is a fully-fledged Dalek Empire, at the height of its power. Experts at fighting Tardises, they can do anything. Right now, that wooden door is…just wood”.

Alyssa noticed that Donna had moved away from the others, seemingly in her own world. “You alright?” she asked touching the woman on the arm, making her jump.

“Yeah…I’m fine”, Donna replied.

“Surrender, Doctor, and face your Dalek masters”, a Dalek ordered.

“Crucible on maximum alert”, another Dalek said.

“Daleks”, Rose said with a nervous laugh.

“Oh, God!” Jack laughed too. Steve eyed them wondering why they were laughing. It was a weird reaction to their situation, he wasn’t finding it at all funny.

“It's been good, though, hasn't it?” the Doctor asked looking at them all “All of us. All of it. Everything we did”, he glanced at Donna “You were brilliant” he turned to Jack “And you were brilliant” Jack grinned at him “you’re brilliant as well Steve”.

“Thanks Doctor”, Steve said. The Doctor then turned to Alyssa.

“You…you’re…I’m so glad that I met you”, he said “I don’t regret that for a second”.

Alyssa smiled “I don’t regret it either”, she said.

The Doctor looked at the doors and took a breath. “Here we go”, he said. He walked down the ramp followed by Jack, Rose and Steve. Alyssa hung back when she saw that Donna was distracted again.

“Donna you sure you’re ok?” Alyssa asked.

“I don’t know”, Donna replied “I keep hearing this heart beat. But I-I don’t know where its coming from”.

Before Alyssa could say anything, the Doctor called out “You two are no safe in there”.

“We better join them”, Alyssa said and Donna nodded. They headed towards the door and was thoroughly startled when it suddenly slammed shut.

“What the hell?” Donna asked as she and Alyssa ran over to the doors. Alyssa yanked on the handles but it wouldn’t budge.

“Its stuck”, she reported.

“Doctor! What have you done?” Donna shouted through the door.

“It wasn't me. I didn't do anything!” The Doctor shouted back.

“Well we’re not staying behind!” Donna exclaimed “open the door!”

The Doctor turned to the Supreme Dalek “What did you do?!” he demanded, his hearts hammering away.

“This is not of Dalek origin”, the Supreme Dalek stated.

“Doctor!” the Time Lord heard the two women shout from the TARDIS.

“Stop it! That is my friend and fiancé in there. Now open the door and let them out”, the Doctor ordered.

“This is Time Lord treachery”, the Supreme Dalek said.

“Me? The door just closed on its own!” the Doctor argued.

“Nevertheless, the TARDIS is a weapon and it will be destroyed”, the Supreme Dalek said. The Doctor watched horrified as a trapdoor opened beneath the blue box and it falls.

“What are you doing?” the Doctor cried “Bring it back!”

~TARDIS~

Alyssa and Donna clung onto the railings as the TARDIS plummeted down the endless tunnel. “Doctor!” they screamed.

~Crucible~

“What have you done?! Where's it going?” the Doctor demanded.

“The Crucible has a heart of Z-neutrino energy. The TARDIS will be deposited into the core”, the Supreme Dalek explained.

“You can't. You've taken the defences down. It'll be torn apart!” the Doctor shouted, his hearts gripped with fear for his fiancé and companion.

~TARDIS~

Several small fires erupted around the console room and many of the lights in the walls explode. Alyssa struggled to climb to the console and grabbed hold of it with one hand. She held out the other to Donna, who was having a bit more trouble getting to the console. The ginger reached up at grasped Alyssa’s hand. With a grunt, the red head pulled Donna over to the console.

“Thanks”, Donna said “Now what do we do?” she asked desperately.

“I don’t know”, Alyssa reluctantly answered.

~Crucible~

“But Donna's still in there!” Rose exclaimed.

“Let her go!” Jack ordered.

“And Ali too”, Steve spoke up.

“The females and the TARDIS will perish together. Observe!” the Supreme Dalek activates a holographic screen showing the TARDIS bobbing in the energy field “The last child of Gallifrey is powerless”.

“Please. I'm begging you. I'll do anything!” the Doctor pleaded “Put me in their place. You can do anything to me, I don't care, just get Donna and Ali out of there!”

~TARDIS~

Alyssa and Donna were now on their hands and knees, coughing due to the smoke that was curling around the console room. The ginger’s head suddenly snapped up, staring at the hand in the jar. She reached out to it…

“Donna! No!” Alyssa exclaimed grabbing her hand about to pull her away when there was an explosion from the jar throwing them both backwards. Donna landed on her back on the grilled floor while Alyssa collided hard with the curved wall.

Donna groaned sitting up, her gaze immediately going over to Alyssa. The red head was slumped by the wall, unmoving. Donna got up and stumbled over to her friend. “Ali?” she gently shook her “Ali wake up!”

Alyssa didn’t respond.

Desperately Donna felt for a pulse and she shoulders slumped when she couldn’t find one. “Ali…no…” she breathed, her voice wobbly with tears “no!”

Unbeknownst to Donna, metacrisis Doctor, created from the Doctor’s old hand, was watching the crying ginger sadly.

“Donna, I’m so sorry”, he said quietly.

Donna looked up at him “its you”, she said, her voice thick with tears, her surprised masked by her sorrow for her best friend. The ginger turned her gaze back to Alyssa, brushing back her red hair from her face, letting out another sob. The metacrisis Doctor went to the console and pushed some buttons, making the TARDIS vanish from the heart of the Crucible and appear safely in space. He then went off to search from some clothes, leaving Donna alone to mourn.

\---------------

It didn’t take the metacrisis Doctor long to find something to wear in the vast wardrobe. He headed for the entrance pausing when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was a red fez. He went over, picked it up and a sad smile appeared on his face. Alyssa loved the red fez…

_~Flashback~_

_“Oh I’m liking this”, she said looking at herself in the mirror._

_“Whats up with the fez?” the Doctor asked._

_“What’s wrong with wearing a fez?” Alyssa asked turning to him. “Fezzes are cool. I think I might start wearing one more often”, she said inspecting her image in the mirror. “Oi!” she exclaimed when the Doctor snatched the fez off her head._

_“Now you can’t wear it”, he said tossing it away making her pout._

_“Aw I liked that Fez”, she mumbled._

_~end~_

The metacrisis Doctor set it down. Having got the Doctor’s memories, he knew that despite the Time Lord voicing his dislike of them, he’d secretly thought that the red head looked good wearing it.

She’d looked good in everything that she wore. The green medieval gown…the little blue number she wore before they met Donna for the first time. She looked amazing in the blue toga during the Pompeii trip. The Doctor was right in comparing her to a goddess…

_~Flashback~_

_“You look beautiful”, he said taking in her appearance once again. She’d decided to dress for the times, which was a nice surprise for the Doctor. Her outfit consisted of a light blue toga with a silver cord wrapped around her waist showing off her figure; a pair of sandals and her charm bracelet. Her hair was pulled back a low bun with a few wavy tendrils framing her face._

_“You’ve said that already”, Alyssa said with a smile “three times to be exact”._

_“I can’t help it”, the Doctor said “you really are beautiful, like a goddess”._

_Alyssa blushed “I’m not a goddess”, she said._

_“Yes you are” the Doctor placed a hand on her cheek “you’re my brilliant red haired goddess”._

_~end~_

He sighed, sinking down into a nearby chair. He had all these memories…all of the Doctor’s memories of Alyssa. The first time they met…their trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights…all their adventures together.

He also had the more personal, more intimate memories too. The moment the Doctor had realised that he was in love with Alyssa. When the Time Lord confessed his feelings and discovered that the woman felt the same way. Their first kiss. The first time that they…a faint blush crept onto his cheeks when he thought about that particular moment. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.

Alyssa was the _Doctor’s fiancé._ Not his. It was just hard not to think of her in way when he had the Time Lord’s memories…he feelings towards the red head. He felt a pang in his heart knowing how much the Doctor wanted to marry Alyssa but now he’ll never get the chance.

Tears pricked in his own eyes as he thought about the red head, lying on the floor of the console room, dead. What he wouldn’t give for her to be alive right now…

\-------------

White. That was all Alyssa could see. White.

“Hello!” she called, her voice echoing in the vast space “hello!”

No response.

“Is anyone there?” Alyssa asked loudly “where am I?” nothing “where’s Donna? Is she ok?”

Still nothing.

Alyssa wrapped her arms around herself and started walk, glancing around at her surroundings, or lack thereof…warily. As she walked, she hummed aloud trying to distract herself from the deafening silence that sounded her. Just like when she spoke, the hums echoed around her which made her stop humming.

And then she heard something that made her stop walking. A very familiar melody. Alyssa slowly turned around “Sexy”, she breathed thoroughly relieved to see her standing there.

“Hello sweetie”, the TARDIS said giving her a fond smile.

“Is this happening in my head again?” Alyssa asked walking towards the woman.

The smile fell from the TARDIS’ face. “No, its not. Alyssa I’m sorry…”

“Sorry?” Alyssa asked “what are you sorry for?”

“Sweetie…you’re dead”, the TARDIS said, tears in her eyes.

“No, I can’t be…I just hit my head hard. I’m unconscious that’s all”, Alyssa said adamantly, not wanting to believe her.

“I’m so sorry Alyssa…but you _are_ dead”, the TARDIS said.

Alyssa turned away, hand on her stomach, sinking down to the floor. “I died”, she repeated, tearing up. The TARDIS went over and sat down beside her. “Donna. Please tell me she…”

“She’s fine”, the TARDIS gently cut in “She’s alive and perfectly safe”.

“Good. That’s good”, Alyssa said. She looked at the TARDIS “So what now? Is there a bright light I have to walk through”, she asked “or am I at my final destination?”

“No, this is not your final destination and there is no light for you to walk through”, the TARDIS said “you’re not done yet”.

Alyssa frowned in confusion “what does that mean?”

“It means your story is not yet over sweetie”, the TARDIS elaborated “did you think that I would spend all that time slowly changing you into a Time Lady if you going to die?”

“I still don’t understand”, Alyssa said.

The TARDIS reached out and placed a hand on her cheek “I was changing you because you and the Doctor were meant to be. How do you think he ended up as your lodger? It was me. I’ve always known right from the start, right from when he stole me…that you and he were going to be together. My thief and my daughter”.

“You knew all this time?” Alyssa asked, the information slowly sinking in. She was still trying to get her head around the fact that she was dead.

The TARDIS nodded “Now, we have to get you back. The Doctor is still in grave danger as are the others”, she said.

“How do I get back?” Alyssa asked.

“Do you trust me sweetie?” the TARDIS questioned.

“Always”, Alyssa replied “so how do I get back?”

“We must become one”, the TARDIS said “but there is something you must know first…” she leant forward and whispered in Alyssa’s ear. The red head nodded.

“I understand”, she said as the TARDIS moved back. The woman held out her hands which were now glowing with a faint golden light. Alyssa took them and the gold light raced up her arms, enveloping her body…

~TARDIS~

Alyssa slowly sat up and looked towards the doors which were open. She got to her fee and took a breath, feeling the TARDIS stir under her skin. “Here we go”, she said and walked towards the doorway.

“9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…”

“No”, she called from the doorway getting everyone’s attention. The Doctor stared at her in disbelief. Donna and the metacrisis Doctor told them all that she was dead! And yet…there she was. Alyssa glanced at the panel Donna had been thrown against and a switch flicked off.

 “Systems in shutdown!” a Dalek reported.

“Detonation negative!” another exclaimed.

“Explain! Explain! Explain!” the Supreme Dalek ordered.

“You'll suffer for this”, Davros glared at the woman. He raised his arm and fired at her. Alyssa stood there, not even flinching when the bolt stopped inches away from her before zipping back into Davros’ weapon. “Argh!” he shrieked.

“You should never play with weapons”, Alyssa mock scolded “you’ll only get hurt”.

“Exterminate her!” Davros ordered.

“No!” the Doctor shouted, his hearts gripped with fear as the Daleks turned their weapons on his fiancé.

“Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!” the Daleks shouted firing their weapons at Alyssa. Instead of striking her, the bolts stopped in mid air. Alyssa smirked at the Daleks.

“My turn”, she said and the bolts shot back towards the respective Daleks that had fired them. Everyone watched as each of the Dalek’s were destroyed by their own weapons no less.

Alyssa glanced at Donna “Why don’t you let them out?” she suggested. The ginger nodded and pushed as few buttons.

“Holding cells deactivated”, Donna reported and the lights holding everyone where the stood, faded “and seal the vault”.

“How did you do that?” the Doctor asked Donna, looking at the ginger in amazement.

“She’s part Time Lord”, the metacrisis Doctor answered.

“Part human!” Donna grinned “Oh, yes! That was a two-way biological metacrisis. Half Doctor, half Donna”.

“Actually Donna…it’s a three-way biological metacrisis”, Alyssa corrected “you’ve got a bit of me as well. It’s actually the reason why the Time Lord part isn’t so overwhelming for you”.

“But the Ood only said ‘the noble Doctor-Donna’” the Doctor said “they never mentioned your name”.

Alyssa smiled “My name has a few meanings depending on country. One of which happens to be noble”, she informed then.

“That’s pretty sneaky”, Steve remarked.

“What I don’t understand is, how are you alive?” the metacrisis Doctor asked “you couldn’t find a pulse, could you Donna?”

“No, I couldn’t”, Donna said.

“The TARDIS brought me back”, Alyssa answered “now if haven’t got any other questions there’s about 27 planets that need to be sent back”.

“She’s right”, Donna agreed “you skinny boys in suits better get to work”. The metacrisis Doctor immediately went over to join her at the controls while the Doctor hung back.

He cupped her face and kissed her long and hard. “When this is over, I’m marrying you”, he stated. An angry look flittered across the face of Rose. She had been overjoyed when Donna had told them Alyssa was dead, though of course she didn’t show it. _Why couldn’t the bloody woman stay dead?_ She thought angrily. 

“Stop them! Get them away from the controls!” Davros ordered raising his weapon. The Supreme Dalek pointed his gun at the trio as well.

Alyssa stepped in front of the two Doctor’s and Donna, easily deflecting the two bolts away. “Give up Davros, its over”, she said folding her arms.

“Activate magnetron”, Donna ordered.

“Stop this at once!” Davros shouted and tried to fire at the trio behind Alyssa but she easily deflected it.

“I told you to give up”, Alyssa said, her eyes flashing gold. With a swipe of her hand, she sent him careening into a wall. Jack wasted no time rushing over to him, pointing his large gun which he grabbed from the TARDIS, at Davros.

“You should’ve listened to the lady”, Jack said sternly.

“Ready?” Donna looked at the two Doctors “And reverse!” she and the two Doctors pull out two pairs of rods, and the planets disappear one by one.

“Off you go, Clom!” the Doctor smiled.

“Back home, Adipose Three!” the metacrisis Doctor nodded.

“Shallacatop, Pyrovillia and the Lost Moon of Poosh…” Donna continued.

“Those can’t be names of planets”, Steve remarked quietly to Alyssa “they sound made up”.

“They do, don’t they?” Alyssa agreed.

“Is anyone going to tell us what's going on?” Rose asked still not quite understanding.

“He” Donna gestured to the original Doctor “poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand. Ali and I touched the hand, and he…” Donna gestured to the metacrisis Doctor” grew out of that but _some_ of that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head till the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life. Thank you, Davros! Part human…part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind!”

“So there's three of you?” Sarah Jane asked glancing between the three of them.

“Three Doctors?” Rose repeated.

“I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now”, Jack remarked.

“Good because we really don’t want to know”, Alyssa said to him.

“You're so unique Donna that the timelines were converging on you”, the Doctor explained “Human being with a Time Lord brain”.

Davros turned to Dalek Caan “But you promised me, Dalek Caan!” he cried “Why did you not foresee this?”

The insane Dalek just giggled. “Oh, I think he did. Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages, getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time”, the Doctor said.

“This would always have happened. It was meant to be...just like you and the empath…TARDIS’ daughter”, Caan said. The Doctor glanced at Alyssa surprised.

“Sexy knew we were meant to be. She’s always known, right from the moment you stole the her”, Alyssa said.

“You betrayed the Daleks!” Davros accused,  glaring at Caan.

“I SAW the Daleks. What we have done, throughout time and space, I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed, ‘no more’”

Davros fired a bolt at Caan only to find that it was deflected away, striking the magnetron instead. “Oh, we've lost the magnetron”, the Doctor groaned “And there's only one planet left….” He shook his head. He should’ve known Earth would be the last planet left “But we can use the TARDIS”.

He turned and hurried into the blue box.

“Holding Earth stability. Maintaining atmospheric shell”, the metacrisis Doctor reported as he flicked the switches on the control panel.

“The prophecy must complete”, Caan spoke up.

“Don't listen to him”, Davros said quickly.

“I have seen the end of everything Dalek, and _you_ must make it happen, Doctor”

Those words made the metacrisis Doctor pause “He's right. Cos with or without a Reality Bomb, this Dalek Empire's big enough to slaughter the cosmos…they've got to be stopped!”

“Doctor…don’t do it”, Alyssa said feeling the shift in his emotions and she knew that he was about to do something very, very bad. The metacrisis Doctor glanced at her “please”, she added quietly.

“I’m sorry Ali. I _have_ to do this”, he worked quickly at the controls “Maximising Dalekanium power feeds. Blasting them back!”

One by one, Daleks start exploding, the sheer number shaking the entire Crucible and the TARDIS. The Doctor dashes out of the blue box. “What have you done?” he demanded, horrified.

“Fulfilling the prophecy”, the metacrisis Doctor stated.

All the Dalek ships around the Crucible explode too.

“Do you know what you've done?!” the Doctor shouted, furious.

“Everyone into the TARDIS, now!” Alyssa ordered, making a break for the blue box. She stood by the doorway, ushering everyone into the ship.

“Never forget, Doctor, YOU did this! I name you…forever, you are the Destroyer of the Worlds!” they heard Davros shout just before the Doctor slammed the TARDIS doors shut.

Alyssa ran over to the console which was surrounded by the Doctor’s friends. Some she knew, and a few she did not. “And off we go!” she declared, pulling a lever. The TARDIS shakes violently as they take off.

“But what about the Earth?” Sarah Jane asked “It's stuck in the wrong part of space!”

“Not for long”, Alyssa said placing her hands on the console “hold on everyone! We’re taking Earth home!”

The people closest to her, Donna and Martha, scooched away when the red head started to glow with a golden light. “What’s happening!” Donna exclaimed.

“The TARDIS and I are one”, Alyssa answered though there was a second voice echoing with hers “hold on!”

Everyone clung onto the console or the railings that ran around the console room as Alyssa and the TARDIS worked in perfect tandem to tow the Earth back to its rightful place in the universe. The console room exploded with cheers as the planet was safely dropped off near to the moon.

“Brilliant Ali!” Donna cried hugging the red head “absolutely brilliant!”

“I’ll say”, Martha agreed patting Alyssa on the shoulder, a big grin on her face. The Doctor made his way to his fiancé and gave her a big kiss earning them all whoops and cheers.

“I knew you were the most brilliant woman in the universe”, he stated.

“Well I have to be don’t I? In order to keep up with the smartest, cleverest and most handsome man in the universe”, Alyssa smoothly countered. The Doctor laughed and enveloped her in a big hug. Alyssa winced slightly a brief flash of pain went through her body. She didn’t say anything about it though, she didn’t want to ruin the celebrations. So instead, she hugged the Doctor back with a smile fixed upon her face.

\---------------

Little later…

Alyssa sat up with a gasp. She was burning all over. The woman fell out of bed and stumbled to the door. It was too soon! The Doctor wasn’t back from Donna’s yet! Using the wall as a support, she made her way to the console room. Alyssa leaned heavily against one of the coral supports, panting, eyes fixed on the doors. “Come on Doctor”, she groaned.

Seconds turned into minutes and he still hadn’t shown up. Alyssa’s knuckles were turning white from gripping the support tightly. And then the TARDIS door opened.

The Doctor stepped inside the ship and immediately saw Alyssa in very bad shape. He rushed over to her. “About time you got here”, she groaned “I didn’t think I could hold it off for much longer”.

“Hold off what?” the Doctor asked looking at her with a mixture of worry and confusion. She looked like she was dying. But she couldn’t be! The TARDIS wouldn’t bring her back to him only for her to be taken away again. That wouldn’t be fair! “Please tell me you’re not dying”, he pleaded.

“Not as such”, Alyssa panted “but I am going to change…I think” the Doctor’s eyes widened when he saw her hands start to faintly glow a very familiar colour.

“You’re regenerating”, he breathed. He then carefully pried her away from the support, gently grasping her upper arms to keep her steady.

“Yep”, Alyssa said popping the p “and like I said, I was trying to hold it off until you got back. I didn’t want to go without you being here”. She winced. The Doctor looked at her sadly, trying to ignore how his hearts were aching, seeing her in that much pain. He should’ve been overjoyed that she was regenerating, it meant that she was a full Time Lady… but it also meant that this was the last time he was going to see this Alyssa.

“Doctor…I don’t regret a single moment since I met you” a tear ran down Alyssa’s cheek “And I love you so, so much”.

“I love you too”, the Doctor said. He moved his hands from her arms and cupped her face. He kissed her, making sure she could feel how much he actually loved her. And he did love her so much…more than words could possibly express. Then an idea struck him. It was downright stupid considering that he only had one left… but he didn’t care. He didn’t want her to go through it alone.

The Doctor stepped back and moved over to the console to set the TARDIS in motion. Alyssa’s eyes widened when she saw that he was starting to glow too.

“What did you do?” she breathed, cringing from another flash of intense pain.

“I took some of your regeneration energy to trigger the process in me”, the Doctor said calmly.

“Why?” Alyssa asked wondering why he would do something like that considering that he’d already gone through a regeneration…well a partial one thanks to his handy spare hand. And he only put the energy into his hand so he could stay the same! and _now_ he wanted to change?

“So, we could change together”, the Doctor answered “a new start for the both of us”.

Alyssa couldn’t help but smile at him through her pain. It was a sweet gesture on the Time Lord’s part but she had no idea how many regenerations he had left. “How…many changes to you have?” she gasped out.

“I have enough”, the Doctor lied “now don’t fight it anymore, just let go. Everything will be fine”, he assured her. Alyssa nodded. She closed her eyes, took a breath and accepted the change. Orange-gold energy streamed from her body as she underwent her very first regeneration.

The same energy flowed out of the Doctor moments later as his own regeneration took hold. Due to the force of two regenerations going at once and the fact that the TARDIS wasn’t fully back to her former glory…fires started to erupt once again around the console room. Support beams shook and collapsed.

The orange gold light faded from the pair, Alyssa falling back against the console feeling rather drained from the process. The Doctor on the other hand, was inspecting himself. “Legs. I've still got legs, good”, he kissed his knee “Arms. Hands. Ooo, fingers” he fiddled with his fingers “Lots of fingers” the Doctor touched his ears “Ears, yes. Eyes, two” he touched his nose “Nose, I've had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair…” the Doctor ran a hand through his hair “I'm a girl!” he frantically felt for the Adam’s apple which he thankfully had “No! No…I'm not a girl”, he pulled his hair in front of his eyes “And still not ginger!” he said crossly. The Doctor’s gaze sought out his fiancé and found her leaning against the console still catching her breath “Oh that’s not fair!” he whined making her look up at him.

“What?” Alyssa asked “Oh, I still sound like myself. That’s good”, she added pleased about that “Now, what’s not fair?”

“You! You’re a still red head!” the Doctor exclaimed. Alyssa grabbed several strands of hair and pulled it out for inspection.

“So I am”, Alyssa said, noting that it still looked the same shade of red as she had before though there were strands of blonde…or was it gold…running through the clump of hair she’d picked up. She also noticed that it appeared to be a little longer as well but she couldn’t be sure until she had a look at herself in the mirror. “Oh, wipe that pout off your face dear. Its not…” Alyssa trailed off and frowned “hold on… isn’t there something we’re forgetting?” she asked.

Suddenly part of the console near to where Alyssa was, exploded. The Doctor quickly pulled her out of the way. “We’re crashing love! That’s what we’d forgotten, we’re crashing! Ha!” he cheered grabbing hold of the console with one hand and winding his other arm around Alyssa’s waist. “Geronimo!” the Doctor whooped with excitement.


	40. Bonus chapter

The metacrisis Doctor walked along the beach hands in his pockets. What was he supposed to do now? He was stuck in a parallel universe with absolutely nothing. How could the Doctor do this to him?! He destroyed the Daleks. It wasn’t anything the Time Lord wouldn’t have done. In fact he _knew_ the Doctor had done it once before as the last desperate act of the Time War.

He didn’t even get to say goodbye to Alyssa. She’d gone off for a lay down as she apparently wasn’t feeling too good. Didn’t blame her really. She had just come back from the dead.

Alyssa…his single heart clenched at the thought of being away from her. Damn the Doctor’s memories! All he wanted to do was be with her. To hold her. To kiss her. To tell her how much he loved her. But that was never going to happen because she was not his. These feelings he had was because of the Doctor’s memories.

“Jack come back here!”

The metacrisis Doctor stopped. That was Alyssa’s voice. Could it be? He watched a black and white Husky pup race across the sand and then she came into view. His heart soared. It was her! Well this earth’s version of her at least. But that didn’t matter. She was here! “Jack, please!” she hollered at her dog.

Without even thinking, the metacrisis Doctor ran toward the Husky pup and scooped him up. “Easy Jack”, he said to the wiggling pup.

“Oh thank you”, Alyssa panted when she finally caught up “I’ve been chasing him for a while” she took Jack from the metacrisis Doctor and clipped his lead on his collar “haven’t I, you pickle?” she laughed as Jack licked her nose. That put a smile on the human-time lord’s face. “I’m Ali by the way”, the red head said shifting Jack on to one arm and held out a hand which the metacrisis shook.

“John”, he said. He could’ve told her his name was the Doctor but what was the point? He may look like the Time Lord and have his memories but he only had one heart. He was human in every sense of the word. So it was best to have a human name.

“Nice to meet you John. And thank you again for catching Jack”, Alyssa said. 

“You’re welcome”, the newly named John said.

“I don’t usually do this for people I just met but would you like to come back to mine for a cup of tea?” Alyssa offered. This was a first for her but there was something about John that made her feel…comfortable. Maybe it was what she was sensing from him or maybe it was something else. But whatever it was made her feel like she wanted to get to know him better.

“I’d love to”, John said.

“Great”, Alyssa said giving him a smile, making the man’s heart do a funny flip in his chest. Making sure that she had a secure hold on Jack’s lead, she set the Husky pup down. “We’re going home buddy”, she told the canine earning an excited bark from him. Alyssa and John walked along the sand, Jack almost kangarooing along as he strained himself on the leash in eagerness to get back home.  

As they walked John could help but have a smile on his face. Was he happy that there was an Alyssa in this parallel universe? Yes. Was he happy that she’d offered for him to come back to hers for a cuppa? Absolutely! This was his chance to get any semblance of the happiness the Doctor had with his Alyssa and he for one was not going to mess this up.

** Donna Noble **

“Missing them already?” Wilf spoke up from behind Donna who was standing by his telescope, looking up at the night sky.

“I started missing them both the second the Doctor left”, the ginger admitted.

“I still think you should’ve stayed with ‘em”, Wilf stated.

“You know why I couldn’t gramps”, Donna said turning to him “this new…gift I have…its got to settle first”. The Doctor had explained that while the part of Alyssa she’d taken was enabling her to cope with the Time Lord part she’d obtained from himself, there was still slight chance that it could overwhelm her…burn out her mind if she continued to travel with them at that current moment.  Though the Time Lord had added that there was a possibility she could re-join them once some time had passed and her body was used to this sudden change.

While she was excited at the thought of being able to travel again, once it was safe enough for her to do so, she was also aware that it could be weeks, months or even years until that happened. Donna didn’t mind that at all. She would wait because she knew from experience that the Doctor and Alyssa were well worth waiting years for. Though secretly she hoped that they wouldn’t go off and get married in the meantime. The ginger shook her head. No, of course they wouldn’t. She was supposed to be one of Alyssa’s bridesmaids after all.

Donna turned her gaze back to the stars. “See you two later”, she murmured, a smile appearing on her face as she spoke Alyssa’s usual farewell.  She then looked at her grandfather “come on then, lets go home. Don’t know about you but I could do with a nice cuppa”, she said “and maybe a banana”, she added as an afterthought.


End file.
